ANNUAL ADDRESS. IX. 



compulsory courts of arbitration and the like. It has 

 witnessed previously unexampled illustrations of " spirited 

 public works policies" with other people's money, and 

 sweeping retrenchment schemes when the money was gone. 

 It has been a time of great activity and controversy in 

 educational matters the wide world over and in Australia, 

 and particularly this State, there has been set on foot a 

 movement of vital significance in the direction of educa- 

 tional reform. Finally, it has been a period of marked 

 development in engineering matters, one or two of which 

 will merit slightly extended reference. A very casual 

 examination of this long but still very partial list will show 

 that any of the topics could with advantage be discussed 

 by this Section, but it is only the last two items that time 

 will allow me to mention. 



DIRECTIONS OP ENGINEERING PROGRESS. 



The one development of a strictly engineering nature to 

 which I will refer on this occasion is that of prime-movers, 

 to which subject I had occasion to give some special atten- 

 tion during a recent short trip to Europe, and there are a 

 few points of progress in this direction worthy of at least 

 passing notice. Steam turbines have more than fulfilled 

 their promise of a few years ago as rivals of the recipro- 

 cating steam engine, and it seems to be now the almost 

 universal opinion that no further marked improvement in 

 the older type of engine may be looked for, or indeed is 

 desirable. We may regard for example the reciprocating 

 engines of such a vessel as the N.D.L. Kaiser Wilhelm II. 

 as being the crowning effort of the designer of this type. 

 Indeed it is hard to imagine anything in its way more 

 perfect than these machines. 



A good deal has been hoped for from the use of the Binary 

 Vapour Engine as extending the usefulness, and increasing 

 the efficiency of the ordinary cylinder and piston type, by 



