G.— ENGINEERING. 133 



number of by-pass roads to divert heavy traffic from passing through 

 large towns, and even villages, which are now suffering severely from 

 congestion of traffic in their altogether too narrow thoroughfares. 



On looking back a few years to the old system of horse-drawn tramways, 

 we must surely be grateful for the benefit accruing to many thousands of 

 our working population arising out of the introduction of electric tramways, 

 enabling them to live in many cases in much healthier surroundings. 



Naval Architecture. 



This comprises shipbuilding and marine engineering and represents a 

 very important part of my subject, dealing, as it does, with the transport 

 by sea and lakes of food and materials, and with the comfort and safety 

 of the many thousands of passengers travelling to and from this country. 

 The wooden vessel in the early part of last century held its own very 

 stubbornly against the introduction of iron or steel vessels, and the 

 mechanically propelled vessel had to fight very hard to oust the very 

 efficient sailing vessels which were then carrying the trade of the world. 

 I imagine that some of my audience with artistic tastes will not be willing 

 to admit that the beauty of the present type of mechanically propelled 

 vessel is comparable with the picturesque five- and six-mast sailing vessels 

 which we used to see in our earlier days. This country has undoubtedly 

 been the pioneer in the building of large warships and passenger liners, 

 also in the development of the very large horse-power therefor. The 

 considerable increase in the tonnage of ships brought with it the necessity 

 for a corresponding increase in the mechanical appliances in connexion 

 with their construction. The trial runs carried out before a new ship is 

 taken over by her owners are a severe test of the excellence of workmanship. 

 They are a necessary test to ensure that long voyages of five to six weeks 

 with machinery running continuously at nearly full power can be under- 

 taken without fear of trouble arising from heated bearings or other causes. 

 A new ship may be exposed to such rough weather on her first voyage 

 that unless her plating and riveting are carried out in a first-rate manner, 

 she may arrive in her first port in a damaged condition. Some of us still 

 remember during the war how new ships, built in other countries, were 

 seriously damaged owing to the workmanship not being of a sufficiently 

 good character. The handling of thick plates of large surfaces and the 

 riveting of them satisfactorily to the stanchions still remains a laborious 

 and trying piece of work for those engaged upon it, although mechanical 

 means exist to some extent. Glasgow has taken a leading part providing 

 men who in all weathers and under conditions rendered difficult by the 

 magnitude of modern vessels, maintain the high level of efiiciency which 

 is represented in the manufacture of these large hulls. The vessels of the 

 greatest tonnage built on the Clyde have been the Aquitania (46,000 tons) 

 and the Lusitania (32,500 tons). Other large vessels built in the British 

 Isles have been the Olympic (46,439 tons) and the Mauretania (30,696 

 tons). Since the war there has been a lull in the building of liners of large 

 tonnage and horse-power caused, no doubt, by financial considerations, 

 but it is gratifying to know that two large shipowning companies are at 

 the present time contemplating building vessels up to 1,000 feet in length 

 with a speed of over twenty knots. 



