ADDRESS. 27 



Long before 1831 the steam-engine had been largely used on rivers and 

 lakes, and for short sea passages, although the first Atlantic steam-service 

 was not established till 1838. 



As early as 1820 the steam-engine had been applied by Gurney, Han- 

 cock, and others to road traction. The absurd impediments placed in their 

 way by road trustees, which, indeed, are still enforced, checked any progress. 

 But the question of mechanical traction on ordinary roads was practically 

 shelved in 1830, at the time of the formation of the British Association, 

 when the locomotive engine was combined with a tubular boiler and an 

 iron road on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. 



Great, however, as was the advance made by the locomotive engine of 

 Robert Stephenson, these earlier engines were only toys compared with 

 the compound engines of to-day which are used for railways, for ships, or 

 for the manufacture of electricity. Indeed, it may be said that the study 

 of the laws of heat, which have led to the introduction of various forms of 

 motive power, are gradually revolutionising all our habits of life. 



The improvements in the production of iron, combined with the de- 

 veloped steam-engine, have completely altered the conditions of our com- 

 mercial intercourse on land ; whilst the changes caused by the effects of 

 these improvements in shipbuilding, and on the ocean carrying trade, 

 have been, if anything, still more marked. 



At the foundation of the Association all ocean ships were built by 

 hand, of wood, propelled by sails and manoeuvred by manual labour ; the 

 material limited their length, which did not often exceed 100 feet, and 

 the number of English ships of over 500 tons burden was comparatively 



small. 



In the modern ships steam power takes the place of manual labour. 

 It rolls the plates of which the ship is constructed, bends them to the 

 required shape, cuts, drills and rivets them in their place. It weighs the 

 anchor ; it propels the ship in spite of winds or currents ; it steers, venti- 

 lates, and lights the ship when on the ocean. It takes the cargo on board 

 and discharges it on arrival. 



The use of iron favours the construction of ships of a large size, of forms 

 which afford small resistance to the water, and with compartments which 

 make the ships practically unsinkable in heavy seas, or by collision. Their 

 size, the economy with which they are propelled, and the certainty of their 

 arrival, cheapen the cost of transport. 



The steam-engine, by compressing air, gives us control over the tem- 

 perature of cool chambers. In these not only fresh meat, but the delicate 

 produce of the Antipodes, is brought across the ocean to our dooi's without 

 deterioration. 



Whilst railways have done much to alter the social conditions of each 

 individual nation, the application of iron and steam to our ships is revolu- 

 tionising the international commercial conditions of the world ; and it is 

 gradually changing the course of our agriculture, as well as of our do- 

 mestic life. 



