EXCELLENCY 



the ladder, moves forward a little, 

 and takes a fresh cut. This type of 

 digger is very effective for canal 

 and dock work. 



The latest form of mechanical ex- 

 cavator for surface work is a rotary 

 machine. It travels on two main 

 traction wheels at the rear, and on 

 a forward steering wheel, the height 

 of which can be adjusted. In the 

 space between the traction and 

 steering wheels the frame supports 



spokeless excavating wheel of 

 diameter, with buckets 

 mounted on its circumference. It 

 revolves in a fore-and-aft plane, 

 making a cut. as the machine 

 moves forward, 6^ ft. wide and 

 from 1 ft. to 5 ft. deep, according 

 to the adjustment of the steering 

 wheel, which is supported by the 

 undisturbed ground. A belt- con- 

 veyer, running transversely through 

 the wheel, receives the spoil and 

 empties it at one side into cars or 

 on to a heap. The capacity of the 

 machine is 325 cubic ft., or about 

 16 tons, of material per minute. 



An apparatus with a scoop wheel 

 working in the manner just de- 

 scribed, but mounted on a four- 

 wheeled frame like that of a trac- 

 tion engine, has proved very suc- 

 cessful in excavating ditches or 

 trenches for water and drain pipes. 

 The scoop wheel revolves between 

 the arms of a falling jib at the rear 

 of the machine. The " ditcher," as 

 it is called, will deal with any kind 

 of ground that can be moved with 

 a pick, even macadam road, and 

 will cut through buried roots and 

 logs. The largest machines ex- 

 cavate trenches 4 ft. wide to a 

 depth of 12 ft. A correct grade is 

 maintained by means of the jib 

 gear and a sighting-box on the 

 wheel frame. 



Some sections of the London 

 " tube " tunnels were driven by an 

 electrically operated rotary boring 

 digger, a transverse wheel with six 

 radial arms carrying chisels and 

 scoops. Rotary motion is imparted 

 to the wheel by pinions engaging a 

 circumferential rack. The cutting 

 chisels loosen the material, which 

 falls into the invert and is picked 

 up by the buckets and emptied 

 on to a belt - conveyer. See 

 Engineering. 



Excellency. Title of honour, 

 formerly applied to emperors, 

 kings, princes, and other high per- 

 sonages. In modern British usage 

 it is confined to the governor-gen- 

 eral of India, the lord-lieutenant of 

 Ireland, colonial governors, and 

 ambassadors and envoys. In France 

 and the S. American republics the 

 president is styled Excellency, 

 but not in the U.S.A. The Italian 

 eacelenza is a common mode of 

 addressing strangers. 



3O39 



EXCHANGE 



Excellent. 



Parade ground of the chief school of naval gunnery on 

 Island, Portsmouth Harbour 



Cribb, Southsea 



Whale 



Excellent. Name of a British 

 warship, and of the chief school 

 of naval gunnery, also known as 

 Whale Island. It is situated in 

 Portsmouth Harbour on a small 

 island made up largely of earth 

 excavated for the construction of 

 new docks. In the Excellent gun- 

 nery school officers and men are 

 trained as specialists. 



The Excellent, a 3rd class gun- 

 boat, built in 1870, displacing 508 

 tons, with one 7'5-in. and one 4-in. 

 gun, took part in the bombard- 

 ment of the Belgian coast in the 

 early months of the Great War. 



Excelsior. Lyric poem by H. 

 W. Longfellow, published in Bal- 

 lads and Other Poems, 1841. It is 

 intended to show the life of a man 

 of genius, resisting all temptations, 

 laying aside fears, heedless of warn- 

 ings, and pressing right on to ac- 

 complish his purpose. After every 

 warning, in the face of every temp- 

 tation, he repeats his motto, Ex- 

 celsior, higher; and then perishes 

 without having reached the per- 

 fection he longed for. The voice 



heard in the air at the close is the 

 promise of immortality and pro- 

 gress ever upward. 



Excess Profits Duty. Tax 

 levied by the British Government 

 to meet the expenses of the Great 

 War. It was first imposed in Sept., 

 1915, when all excess profits made 

 in business were taxed at the rate 

 of 50 p.c., the amount being raised 

 to 60 p.c. in 1916 and to 80 p.c. in 

 1917. Excess profits were defined 

 as those in excess of the average 

 made in the two or three years 

 before the outbreak of war, and 

 the tax was not charged on the 

 first 200. Farmers and professional 

 men were not liable to the tax, 

 which in the financial year 1919-20 

 produced 290,045,000. A similar 

 tax was introduced in Canada and 

 Australia, and in several foreign 

 countries. The duty, reduced to 

 40 p.c. in 1919, was raised to 60 p.c. 

 in 1920. The duty was very un- 

 popular and by Sept. 20, 1920, 

 there was a drop of over twenty 

 millions in the estimated total. It 

 was abolished in Mar., 1921. 



EXCHANGE: INTERNATIONAL FINANCE 



Ellis T. Powell, D.Sc., Author of The Mechanism of the City 



Banking ; Credit ; and Money are articles which deal with subjects 

 of kindred interest. See also Bill of Exchange and the articles on 

 <th British and fo 



the great banks, both 



The science of the foreign ex- 

 changes is concerned with the 

 transformation of the currency of 

 one country into that of another. 

 The exchange is necessary in order 

 to adjust the international obliga- 

 tions which arise from the world- 

 wide operations of finance, in- 

 dustry, and trade. 



Giving change for a sixpence is 

 proverbially unprofitable ; nobody 

 here and now will give more than 

 sixpence for sixpence. But six- 

 pence here may be worth more or 

 less than sixpence somewhere else, 

 while sixpence now may be worth 

 more than sixpence in three 

 months' time. This principle is the 

 key to the mysteries of the foreign 

 exchanges, the machinery by which 

 money in one country is trans- 



foreign 



formed into money of another. By 

 money we mean coin, or else some 

 instrument or document a cheque, 

 bill, or note, for example con- 

 vertible as of right into coin. 



I want to pay 15s. to McGinty in 

 Glasgow. I could, if I liked, send 

 him a 10s. currency note and two 

 half-crowns in a registered letter ; 

 but this is cumbersome. The ideal 

 method is to find somebody in 

 Glasgow who owes me 15s. and 

 tell him to pay it to McGinty. Un- 

 fortunately, I have no debtor in 

 Glasgow ; but I know an individual 

 who does possess large funds there, 

 and it occurs to me that I might 

 buy 15s. of his Glasgow money 

 with my London cash. This indi- 

 vidual with the large Glasgow bal- 

 ances is the postmaster-general. 



