Presidential Address.— Sec iion C 347 



b\ the Kafirs. Let us hope that a change may come, and come 

 quickly, and that we may ourselves see iron and Steel Manufactor'f-:s 

 established in this country. 



Our knowledge of metals and their alloys has been much added 

 to bv microscopical research. Chemical analysis can give us the 

 components of an alloy, or the percentage of materials in a sample 

 of steel, but experience has taught us that the behaviour of a n:etai 

 under mechanical tests may vary very considerably, although its 

 chemical composition, as shown by chemical analysis, may remam 

 the same, and it is here that microscopic research is so valuable. 



One of the lessons we have learnt is the necessity of standardisa- 

 tion both of tests and ot" sections and sizes of iron and steel. In 

 America, (jermany, France, and now in England quite recently, 

 standard sections have been adopted. The producer thereby can 

 cheapen jnoduction, because he can roll the differejit standard 

 sections, knowing that he can place the surplus to stock, and the 

 purchaser knows that he can buy these standard sections at a low 

 cost. Care must be taken that elasticity and expansion of idea are 

 allowed ftir, and that standardization does not spell fossilization or 

 check progress. The cheapening of steel and iron will mean 

 perhaps more to South Africa than to most countries, for not only 

 will there be here an enormous demand for rails, bridges, galvanized 

 iron and fencing, structural steel, for high luiildings and warehouses, 

 and all the other steel and iron ware, but there is in South Africa no 

 construction timber grown, that is, the timber most largely consumed 

 in engineering work, and in buildings, and as such wood gets dearer 

 and dearer, and steel work gets cheaper, there will come a time, 

 perhaps in the near future, when steel and iron will be used, perhaps 

 fortified with concrete, in the construction not only uf tail structures 

 and giant edifices, but in dwelling houses and cottages, instead of 

 timber. The cheapening of aluminium has extended its use in ways 

 unthought of a few years back. Who would have ^-entured a few 

 \ears ago to say that aluminium would be used for the frames of 

 carriages, or as an alternative to copper wire for electric power trans- 

 mission? It is our duty to be ever on the alert to take advantage of 

 the constant changes that take place and to utilize fresh materials 

 and new methods, that from the fluctuation of prices become from 

 time to time the most economical and the best for our purpose. 



We have had an instance of this in the growing use of the 

 "Otto Hoffmann"' and "Otto Hilgenstock '" Ovens, .\nother im- 

 portant instance is the start now made in the use of gas engines sup- 

 plied by producer and water gas. Six years ago there was no 

 general use for these, fiecause the gas used was exclusively made 

 from expensive coal or coke. Hut in 1897 " Mond " erected a pro- 

 ducer using soft coal slack, which was inexpensive. These ga.ses, 

 such as " Mond's " or " Dowson's "' water gas. have a very low illum- 

 inating power, and their calorific power is onlv a third or a fourth of 

 that of ordinary illuminating gas, yet, as they can be used at a cost 

 of about _y]. or 2d. per r,ooo cu' ic feet, it seems likelv that the large 



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