The Developing of Power 



living In much the same way that they did 200 years ago. 

 The power produced by steam and electricity have called 

 into being a billion mechanical forces now aiding the work 

 that our complex system of civilization finds necessary to 

 be performed. 



We have seen that power can seldom be used in the 

 exact place where It is produced, but that It must be trans- 

 mitted to machines that do the w^ork for which they are 

 designed and this, as we have seen, necessitates wheels, 

 shafts and bearings. For heavy work, these wheels, shafts 

 and bearings are made of steel and many of them rotate at 

 high velocities. These bearings rotate against each other 

 as steel on steel. They may be polished as smooth as glass, 

 but if they are examined under a magnifying glass. It will be 

 observed that their surface contains pits and protuberances 

 somewhat like the shell of an egg. These bearings working 

 against each other produce friction that develops heat. 

 This must be overcome by a film of oil floating between the 

 bearings at all times and if this film of oil Is taken away 

 from the bearings of the wheels of Industry for a single day, 

 the world's progress will stop. Animal and vegetable oils 

 were used at first to lubricate the wheels of Industry, but 

 as industries grew and bearings Increased, there was not 

 sufficient animal and vegetable oils for this purpose, so 

 again civilization demanded that a substitute be found. The 

 genius of man supplied this requirement by discovering and 

 utilizing petroleum or oil that was hidden In the rocks 

 beneath the surface of the earth, and thus another industry 

 sprang into being that was destined to play a greater part in 



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