LAND AND 5\^ A T E R. 
March 13. 1915. 
After careful consideration tlie latter olternative was 
decided upon, ano requests to be allowed to quote were for- 
warded to various Government departments and to several of 
the large manufacturing firms. 
The majority of the big firms had no work they could 
offer. Some had work not suitable to the capabilities of tha 
small firm above mentioned, and one asked for a definite 
quotation, but after having considered it found the prices 
altogether too high, although these had beeu " cut " to tha 
limit which would allow the small firm in question a bar* 
profit. 
Of the Government departments, some said they had no 
work they could offer, several sent polite acknowledgments, 
followed in one case by requests for quotations for different 
kinds of work which have been and are being submitted to 
the best of the firm's ability, and one wired that an interview 
with the firm's representative was desired. This was followed 
Vj a very small "sample" order, and by assurances that 
U'-Ore orders would be forthcoming. So far bo good. 
' Unfortunately the process above mentioned has been go- 
ing on for some time, and the firm's employees have been and 
are still worrying and asking " When shall we get the Govern- 
Hicnt work? " They state, and with some justice it must be 
acknowledged, that " this has been going on since Christmas, 
and all you have to show us is one small order." It should be 
remembered that their friends in Leeds, on the Tyne, in the 
West Riding, and many other places are earnin" very high 
wages, and the large firms are continually advertising for men. 
Naturally they feel envious. 
On the firm's side of the matter, too, there is nothing to 
feel particularly joyful about. For months now the wages, 
rent, rates, taxes, all other expenses have been going on 
and nothing coming in. Such a process cannot continue in- 
definitely. I wonder if any of your readers have ever con- 
Bidered what it costs to run even a very, very small manufac- 
turing business. To take a purely hypothetical case, and ono 
nothing to do with the firm above mentioned, it is a very, 
very small business, as businesses go nowadays, the wages bill 
of which is only £1(X) per week. Yet how many of your 
readers would care to be called upon to find that sum at th« 
present time, plus the corresponding overhead charges and 
salaries ? 
Now, of course, we are at war, and in war someone musf 
inevitably suffer. It may well be that it is better for th« 
country that the small firms should close down and their work- 
men go to aid the output of the large firms. This will entai! 
the entire extinction of many of the small firms for good and 
all, since a small shop depends on its workmen who have been 
trained in its speciality to a greater extent than do the large 
shops. Once the men are scattered the firm as an " entity '- 
disappears. 
However, this may be quite a necessary and unavoidabla 
feature of the war, and it may be truly argued that it is not 
worth while to try and keep the small firms alive because 
They cannot turn out the quantities of which the large firma 
are capable ; 
They cannot do anything like the number of difCerent Tarietiea 
of work ; 
Their prices are boand to be somewhat higher, bIhos Uis* 
capital, the very latest machinery, and great output all speU 
economy of production. 
On the other hand, the small firms may be useful in their 
own way, and it may be more advantageous from the national 
point of view to employ them rather than to let them go under. 
If it is (and it is a point for the authorities to decide) thera U 
» very simple way of doing it. That is — 
(1) Give them work suitable to their capaciUea. 
(2) Give them work promptly. 
You will have observed the axe in the latter part of this 
Inordinately long letter. — With apologies, yours faithfully, 
" One of the Principals of a Bjiall Fish."- 
11, Bootham Crescent, York. 
(i) 
(c) 
THE DIFFERENT SPEEDS OF AN AEROPLANE, 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Deab Si3, — I have for some weeks been trying to find 
out the answers to the series of questions given below. Per- 
haps Mr. L. Blin Desbleds would kindly furnish them, as 
they are probably of interest to many of your readers as well 
as to me? 
1. Dr. ClazebrooU, In a lecture reported In technical jonrnala and 
daily papers, stated that one of the flying machines could 
travel at a maximum 8pe«d of, eay, eighty -five miles per hour, 
and down to forty per cent, this was a minimum. Does this 
moan that, in favourable air conditions, it could fly hori- 
Eontally at any desired speed between these two limits for half, 
or one hour, or more? 
a spot on which to tlight, or in occupying leas diatanc* anj 
time in coming safely to land f 
3. Has the lower speed limit advantages in scouting, as In a fifty- 
one hundred wilo trip a greater ti.'iie would be taken, and co» 
eequciitly the country could be examined more closely? 
4. What are "the means wtich allow of this range of speed t Adjust- 
ment of the angle of the wings, or of the tail, or of both ? 
5. Is the power required about the same throughout the range, of 
is the motor ruu faster or alowai as the speed ia varied up of 
down? 
6. Is there any small quite up-to-date book published giving azmA 
general iuformatiaa such aa a&ked fur above? 
—Yours, very truly, 
'' EsijuiBia.'' 
PlEPLIES. 
The statement means that for a certain amoant of power a« 
BcropUno can fly hori.Tontally at two speeds — a high speed and 
a low one. In the instance quoted tlie lower speed is forty 
per cent, of the higher one. The accompanying curve wiU 
make the point clear. It refers to a lil^riot monoplane, but all 
other aeroplnnca have a curvo of a girailar character. Thia 
Curve s^wtry^fHerehtiozt £efn^eert 
tlie tnduijx&on. o/'an aeropizzzs 
andiAe ff.J^re^ahydtonyit-' 
IncCaiafioxi in. <de<jrees 
cnrre shows two important facta : (a) there is an lnclinati<» 
and where the horsepower OA is a minimum; (6) there ara 
two inclinations, Bl and B2, of the machine for whith the 
horse-power OB, required to fly it horizontally, Is the same^ 
Therefore, for a given horse-power OB a machine can fly 
horizontally either at the inclination Bl or at B2. Now, t* 
each inclination of the machine there corresponds a speed. 
Therefore, for a given horse-power OB, the machine can fly 
• horizontally at a speed corresponding to the Inclination Bl o» 
at that defined by the inclination B2. If the motor was per- 
fectly elastic the horse-power it developed could be regulated 
to give any amount of power comprised between OB and the 
minimum OA. In such a case the aeroplane could be flown at 
any inclination comprised between Bl and B2 — «'.«., it woold 
have any speed contained within the limits of thoee defined by 
Bl and B2. Unhappily, aeroplane motors are not very elastte 
as regards power, and one cannot rely to fly at any dcaired 
speed between tha two limits which are gtvea by tha aame 
amount of power. 
2. It could be employed for all these parposea. 
5. Yea. 
4. Adjustment of longitudinal incUnatioo of the machioa aa 
explained in (1) above. 
6. Thia is explained in Reply 1. 
6. I am afraid not. One could consult with advantage the Beporte 
of the Government Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the 
works of G. Kiffel, and of br. Prandtl. There is, of coura^ 
a special periodical literaturo dealing with aeronautics. The 
best two are, to my mind, La TecKniqve Aironautiqut and 
L'AiTophiU. There is also a first-rate German publication 
which, at present, however, ia not available. 
Z. 
Dr. Glazebrook mentioned the lower limit as especially osefu! 
foi alighting purposes. Is tliis merely in facilitating selectina 
In the appeal which appeared in our columns last weeM 
on behalf of the Y.M.C.A. for funds for the construction of « 
Sailors' Home at Invergordon from Sir Andrew H. Pettigrew. 
we omitted to give the address to which subscriptions coula 
be sent. These should be addressed to that gentleman a| 
8, Marlborough Terrace, Glasgow, W. 
MR. HILAIRE BELLOC'S LECTURES ON THE WAR, 
Bournemouth.... Pavilion Thursday 11 March, 3 p.m. 
Weymouth Burdon Rooms. Thursday 11 March, 8.30 p.m. 
Plymouth Guildhall Friday 12 March, 3 and 8.30, 
Exeter Victoria IlalL. Saturday 13 March, 2.30 p.m. 
Leeds Albert Hall ... Thursday 18 March, 3 and 8.30. 
Newcastle ffowa Hali .... Friday...'. 19 March, 3 and 6.34, 
Glasgow Monday 22 March. 
Edinburgh .Tuesday 23 March. 
Seats may now be booked for the next scries of Lectures at Queen's 
HaU; these era to be glvaa oa the first Wednesday' in April, May, 
and June. 
Mr. Fred T. Jane will lecture at the Mechanic's Hall, Nottingham, 
at 8, on Wednesday, 17th March, under the auspices of the Navy League, 
His Grace the Duke of Portland has consented to take the chair. 
Mr. Walter rjoaf, D.tjitt, will leot re on "The Dardenellea " at 
the iEolian Hall on Friday, March 26th, at 8 p.m. Tickets, price 
7a. 6d. and 2s. Gd., caa b» oblaiaed frooi Miaa V. Btrachey, 5^ 
Victoria Street, S.W. 
16* 
