XIV. PEESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



other by-products. Already the available supplies of 

 petroleum oils are unable to cope with the demand, and 

 prices are on the increase, so that sooner or later other 

 sources of oil must be pressed into the service. 



Turning now to a consideration of the more common 

 applications of the internal combustion engine, we find 

 that for small powers it stands practically unchallenged 

 as a prime mover. For ordinary industrial work up to^ 

 say, 200 horse power gas engines with suction gas pro- 

 ducers using anthracite, coke, or charcoal, have become- 

 extremely popular, and form very convenient and econo- 

 mical sources of power. It is not, however, yet fully 

 recognised by the public that such plants have certain 

 peculiar limitations with regard to overload capacity 

 and behaviour when running on varying loads. 



There is also a more or less popular impression that 

 these plants can be successfully run by unskilled attend- 

 ance. As with other classes of comparatively high grade 

 machinery proper reliability of service can only be en- 

 sured by having suitably trained attendants. In Aus- 

 tralia at any rate the supply of really capable gas engine 

 attendants is somewhat limited, with the result that com- 

 plaints of unreliability are not common, especially with 

 units of any size. "While the cause of trouble is very 

 often due to unskilful engineering in selecting the plant, 

 or in the manner of erection, or even in the design or 

 manufacture of the plant, still, with a properly trained 

 man in charge, reliable operation can generally be ob- 

 tained such as would compare favourably with steam 

 plant. 



It is to be hoped that the facilities now being of- 

 fered by technical education will be effective in remedy- 

 ing the deficiency in the near future. In this connection, 

 I may remark in passing that some four years ago I had 

 the privilege of inaugurating what I believe was the 

 first course of technical classes in Brisbane dealing with 

 the internal combustion engine. The present trend of 

 practice is towards the use of cheaper fuels, such as bitu- 



