Impressed with the very great step in advance which has been inaugurated here this evening, I feel crowding upon me so many thoughts that I cannot make sure that, in selecting from them, I may not leave unsaid much that I should say, and say some things that I had better omit. Some years ago, when asked by a wealthy gentleman to what machine-shop he had best send his son, who was to become a mechanical engineer, I advised him not to send him to any, but to fit up a shop for him where he could go and work at what he pleased without the drudgery of apprenticeship, to put him in the way of receiving such information as he needed, and especially to let him go where he could see things break. Great, indeed, are the advantages of those who have the opportunity of seeing things break, of witnessing failures and profiting by them. When men have enumerated the achievements of those most eminent in our profession the thought has often struck me, "Ah! if we could only see that man's scrap heap."
There are many who are able to construct a machine for a given purpose so that it will work, but to do this so that it will not cost too much is an entirely different problem. To know what to omit is a rare talent. I once found a young man who could tell students what to store up in their minds for immediate use, and what to skim over or omit; but I could not keep him long, for more lucrative positions are always waiting for such men.
The advice I gave my wealthy friend was given before the Stevens Institute had developed in the direction it has now. The foundation of this advice, namely, to combine a certain amount of judicious practice with theory, is now in a fair way to be carried out, and although things will probably not be permitted to break here, the students will doubtless have opportunities for looking around them and supplementing their systematic instruction here by observation abroad.
LIGHT STEAM ENGINE FOR BALLOONS.
We here illustrate one of a couple of compound engines designed and constructed by Messrs. Ahrbecker, Son & Hamkens, of Stamford Street, S.E., for Captain Mojaisky, of the Russian Imperial Navy, who intends to use them for aeronautical purposes. The larger of these engines has cylinders 3¾ in. and 7½ in. in diameter and 5 in. stroke, and when making 300 revolutions per minute it develops 20 actual horse power, while its weight is but 105 lbs. The smaller engine--the one illustrated--has cylinders 2½ in. and 5 in. in diameter, and 3½ in. stroke, and weighs 63 lbs., while when making 450 revolutions it develops 10 actual horse power.
The two engines are identical in design, and are constructed of forged steel with the exception of the bearings, connecting-rods, crossheads, slide valves and pumps, which are of phosphor-bronze. The cylinders, with the steam passages, etc., are shaped out of the solid. The standards, as will be seen, are of very light T steel, the crankshafts and pins are hollow, as are also the crosshead bolts and piston rods. The small engine drives a single-acting air pump of the ordinary type by a crank, not shown in the drawing. The condenser is formed of a series of hollow gratings.
LIGHT STEAM ENGINE FOR AERONAUTICAL PURPOSES