"Hello, Peter!" he exclaimed. "No need for you to turn out so early on your first morning here. Slept well?"
His nephew had to admit that he had not.
"You can make up for that during the heat of the day," rejoined Uncle Brian. "Here, we work from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., knock off till four in the afternoon, and then carry on till six. It's a short working day compared with that at home, but I find that it's useless to expect to keep these fellows at high pressure for more than six hours a day. That they've jolly well got to do, or the Government would have something to say. Well, now you're up and about, we may as well make a tour of the works."
They made a tour of the rolling shop, the pressing shop, the foundry, and other departments. Although in every case the plant was up-to-date, there was nothing to cause Peter to show any surprise. He had seen similar machines at Dartmouth Engineering College and at the various Royal dockyards.
Presently they arrived at a large galvanized-iron building, enclosed by a massive wall of earth.
"This is part of the oil-fuel distillery," announced Uncle Brian. "Here we have stored about 50,000 gallons of kerosene, conveyed by pipe-line from the wells at Tajeco, about fifty miles from here. From this tank it passes into an apparatus in yonder building to have the flash-point raised to something like 200° F."
"Then what good is it?" asked Peter.
"Better than before for aeroplane engine work," replied his uncle. "All our motors are kerosene fired. We don't use petrol. And kerosene with a high flash-point is practically non-inflammable."
"And consequently non-explosive," added Peter.
"Precisely. That's where safety comes in. Roughly, eighty per cent of fatal accidents to flying men at one time were attributable to fire. This kerosene we are using is an explosive only when under high pressure. In the petrol tank it's safe; even in the carburetter it is non-explosive; but directly it enters the cylinders and is affected by the compression-stroke it is not only more volatile, but far more powerful than the best aviation spirit."