Books: Marvels of Modern Science
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Paul Severing >> Marvels of Modern Science
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At any rate the _Britannia_ in her day was looked upon as the _ne plus
ultra_ in naval architecture, the very acme of marine engineering. The
highest speed she developed was eight and one-half knots or about nine
and three-quarters miles an hour. She covered the passage from Liverpool
to Boston in fourteen and one-half days, which was then regarded as a
marvellous feat and one which was proclaimed throughout England with
triumph.
For a long time the _Britannia_ remained Queen of the Seas for speed,
but in 1852 the Atlantic record was reduced to nine and a half days by
the _Arctic_. In 1876 the _City of Paris_ cut down the time to eight
days and four hours. Twelve years later in 1879 the _Arizona_ still
further reduced it to seven days and eight hours. In 1881 the _Alaska_,
the first vessel to receive the title of "_Ocean Greyhound_," made the
trip in six days and twenty-one hours; in 1885 the _Umbria_ bounded over
in six days and two hours, in 1890 the _Teutonic_ of the White Star line
came across in five days, eighteen hours and twenty-eight minutes, which
was considered the limit for many years to come. It was not long
however, until the Cunard lowered the colors of the White Star, when the
_Lucania_ in 1893 brought the record down to five days and twelve
hours. For a dozen years or so the limit of speed hovered round the
five-and-a-half day mark, the laurels being shared alternately by the
vessels of the Cunard and White Star Companies. Then the Germans entered
the field of competition with steamers of from 14,500 to 20,000 tons
register and from 28,000 to 40,000 horse power. The _Deutschland_
soon began setting the pace for the ocean greyhounds, while other
vessels of the North German Lloyd line that won transatlantic honors
were the _Kaiser Wilhelm II., Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kronprinz
Wilhelm and Kronprinzessin Cecilie_, all remarkably fast boats with
every modern luxury aboard that science could devise. These vessels
are equipped with wireless telegraphy, submarine signalling systems,
water-tight compartments and every other safety appliance known to
marine skill. The _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_ raised the standard
of German supremacy in 1902 by making the passage from Cherbourg to
Sandy Hook lightship in five days and fifteen hours.
In 1909, however, the sister steamships _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_ of
the Cunard line lowered all previous ocean records, by making the trip
in a little over four and a half days. They have been keeping up this
speed to the present time, and are universally regarded as the fastest
and best equipped steamships in the world,--the very last word in ocean
travel. On her last mid-September voyage the _Mauretania_ has broken all
ocean records by making the passage from Queenstown to New York in 4
days 10 hours and 47 minutes. But they are closely pursued by the White
Star greyhounds such as the _Oceanic_, the _Celtic_ and the _Cedric_,
steamships of world wide fame for service, appointments, and equipment.
Yet at the present writing the Cunard Company has another vessel on the
stocks, to be named the _Falconia_ which in measurements will eclipse
the other two and which they are confident will make the Atlantic trip
inside four days.
The White Star Company is also building two immense boats to be named
the _Olympic_ and _Titanic_. They will be 840 feet in length and will be
the largest ships afloat. However, it is said that freight and
passenger-room is being more considered in the construction than
speed and that they will aim to lower no records. Each will be able
to accommodate 5,000 passengers besides a crew of 600.
All the great liners of the present day may justly be styled ocean
palaces, as far as luxuries and general appointments are concerned,
but as the _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_ are best known, a description of
either of these will convey an idea to stay-at-homes of the regal
magnificence and splendors of the floating hotels which modern science
places at the disposal of the traveling public.
Though sister ships and modeled on similar lines, the _Mauretania_ and
_Lusitania_ differ somewhat in construction. Of the two the _Mauretania_
is the more typical ship as well as the more popular. This modern
triumph of the naval architect and marine engineer was built by the firm
of Swan, Hunter & Co. at Wellsend on the Tyne in 1907. The following are
her dimensions: Length over all 790 feet. Length between perpendiculars
760 feet. Breadth 88 feet. Depth, moulded 60.5 feet. Gross tonnage
32,000. Draught 33.5 feet. Displacement 38,000 tons.
She has accommodation space for 563 first cabin, 500 second cabin, and
1,300 third class passengers. She carries a crew of 390 engineers, 70
sailors, 350 stewards, a couple of score of stewardesses, 50 cooks,
the officers and captain, besides a maritime band, a dozen or so
telephone and wireless telegraph operators, editor and printers for
the wireless bulletin published on board and two attendants for the
elevator.
The type of engine is what is known as the Parsons Turbine. There are
23 double ended and 2 single ended boilers. The engines develop 68,000
horse power; they are fed by 192 furnaces; the heating surface is
159,000 square feet; the grate surface is 4,060 square feet; the steam
pressure is 195 lbs. to the square inch.
The highest speed attained has been almost 26 knots or 30 miles an
hour. At this rate the number of revolutions is 180 to the minute. The
coal daily consumed by the fiery maw of the furnaces is enormous. On
one trip between Liverpool and New York more than 7,000 tons is required
which is a consumption of over 1,500 tons daily.
There are nine decks, seven of which are above the water line. Corticine
has been largely used for deck covering, instead of wood as it is much
lighter. On the boat deck which extends over the greater part of the
centre of the ship are located several of the beautiful _en suite_
cabins. Abaft these at the forward end are the grand Entrance Hall,
the Library, the Music-Room and the Lounging-Room and Smoking-Room
for the first cabin passengers.
There is splendid promenading space on the boat deck where passengers
can exercise to their hearts' content and also indulge in games and
sports with all the freedom of field life. Many life boats swing on
davits and instead of being a hindrance or obstacle, act as shades
from the sunshine and as breaks from the wind.
In the space for first-class passengers are arranged a large number
of cabins. What are known as the regal suites are on both port and
starboard, and along each side of the main deck are more _en suite_
rooms.
On the shelter deck there are no first-class cabin quarters. At the
forward end of this deck are the very powerful Napier engines for
working the anchor gear. Abaft this on the starboard side is the general
lounging room for third-class passengers, while on the port-side is
their smoking room with a companion way leading to the third-class
dining saloon below and to the third-class cabins on the main and lower
decks. The third-class galleys are accommodated on the main deck house
and close by is a set of the refrigerating machinery used in connection
with the rooms for the storage of supplies for the kitchen department.
The side of the ship for a considerable distance aft of this is plated
up to the promenade deck level so that the third-class passengers have
not only convenient rooms but a protected promenade. Abaft this
promenade is another open one. Indeed the accommodations for the third
class are as good as what the first-class were accustomed to on most
of the liners some dozen years ago.
To the left of the grand staircase on the deck house is a children's
dining saloon and nursery.
On the top deck are dining saloons for all three classes of passengers,
that for the third being forward, for the first amidships and for the
second near the stern; 470 first-class passengers can be seated at a
time, 250 second class and more than 500 of the third class.
The main deck is given up entirely to staterooms. The whole of the
lower deck forward is also arranged for third-class staterooms. The
firemen and other engine room and stokehold workers are located in
rooms above the machinery with separate entrances and exits to and
from their work. Promenade and exercise space is provided for them on
the shelter deck which is fenced off from the space of the second and
third class passenger. Amidships is a coal bunker with a compartment
under the engines for the storage of supplies.
The coal trimmers are accommodated alongside the engine casing and
abaft this are the mailrooms with accommodation for the stewards and
other helpers. The "orlop" or eighth deck is devoted entirely to
machinery with coal bunkers on each side of the boilers to provide
against the effect of collisions.
The general scheme of color throughout the ship is pleasing and
harmonious. The wood for the most part is oak and mahogany. There are
over 50,000 square feet of oak in parquet flooring. All the carving
and tracing is done in the wood, no superpositions or stucco work
whatever being used to show reliefs.
The grand stairway shows the Italian renaissance style of the 16th
century; the panels are of French walnut; the carving of columns and
pilasters is of various designs but the aggregate is pleasing in effect.
The Library extends across the deck house, 33 by 56 feet; the walls
of the deck house are bowed out to form bay windows. When you first
enter the Library the effect is as though you were looking at shimmering
marble, this is owing to the lightness of the panels which are sycamore
stained in light gray. The mantelpiece is of white statuary marble.
The great swing doors which admit you, have bevelled glass panels set
in bronze casings. The chairs have mahogany frames done in light plush.
The first class lounging room is probably the most artistic as well
as the most sumptuous apartment in the ship. The panels are of beautiful
ingrained mahogany dully polished a rich brown. The white ceiling is
of simple design with boldly carved mouldings and is supported by
columns embossed in gold of exquisite workmanship. Some of the panels
are of curiously woven tapestries, the fruit of oriental looms.
Chandeliers of beautiful design in rich bronze and crystal depend from
the ceiling. The curtains, hanging with their soft folds against the
dull gold of the carved curtainboxes, are of a charming cream silk and
with their flower borders lend a tone both sumptuous and refined. The
carpet is of a slender trellis design with bluish pink roses trailing
over a pearl grey ground and forms a perfect foil to the splendid
furniture. The chairs are of polished beech covered with 18th century
brocade.
The smoking-room of the first-class is done in rich oak carving with
an inlaid border around the panels. An unusual feature in the main
part of the room is a jube passageway extending the whole length and
divided into recesses with divans and card tables. Writing tables may
be found in secluded nooks free from interruption. The windows of
unusual size, are semicircular and give a home-like appearance to the
room.
The dining saloon is in light oak with all carvings worked in the wood.
A children's nursery off the main stairway in the deck house is done
in mahogany. Enameled white panels depict the old favorite of the Four
and Twenty Blackbirds baked in a Pie.
An air of delicate refinement and rich luxury hangs about the regal
rooms. A suite consists of drawing-room, dining-room, two bedrooms,
bathroom and a private corridor. The drawing- and dining-rooms of
these suites are paneled in East India satin-wood, probably the hardest
and most durable of all timber. The bedrooms are in Georgian style
finished in white with satin hangings.
The special staterooms are also finished in rich woods on white and
gold and have damask and silk hangings and draperies. An idea of the
richness and magnificence of the interior decorations may be obtained
when it is learned that the cost of these decorations exceeded three
million dollars.
The galleys, pantries, bakery, confectionery and utensil cleaning rooms
extend the full length of the ship. Electricity plays an important
part in the culinary department. Electric motors mix dough, run grills
and roasters, clean knives and manipulate plate racks and other articles
of the kitchen. The main cooking range for the saloon is 24 by 8 feet,
heated by coal. There are four steam boilers and 12 steam ovens. There
are extensive cold storage compartments and refrigerating chambers.
In connection with the commissariat department it is interesting to
note the food supply carried for a trip of this floating caravansary.
Here is a list of the leading supplies needed for a trip, but there
are hundreds of others too numerous to mention: Forty thousand pounds
of fresh beef, 1,000 lbs. of corned beef, 8,000 lbs. of mutton, 800
lbs. of lamb, 600 lbs. of veal, 500 lbs. of pork, 4,000 lbs. of fish,
2,000 fowls, 100 geese, 150 turkeys, 350 ducks, 400 pigeons, 250
partridges, 250 grouse, 200 pheasants, 800 quail, 200 snipe, 35 tons
of potatoes, 75 hampers of vegetables, 500 quarts ice ream, 3,500
quarts of milk, 30,000 eggs and in addition many thousand bottles of
mineral water and spirituous liquors.
The health of the passengers is carefully guarded during the voyage.
The science of thermodynamics has been brought to as great perfection
as possible. Not alone is the heating thoroughly up to modern science
requirements but the ventilation as well, by means of thermo tanks,
suction valves and exhaust fans. All foul air is expelled and fresh
currents sent through all parts of the ship.
There is an electric generating station abaft the main engine room
containing four turbo-generators each of 375 kilowatts capacity.
There are more than 5,000 electric lights and every room is connected
by an electric push-bell. There is a telephone exchange through which
one can be connected with any department of the vessel. When in harbor,
either at Liverpool or New York, the wires are connected to the City
Central exchange so that the ships can be communicated with either by
local or long distance telephone.
By means of wireless telegraphy voyagers can communicate with friends
during almost the entire trip and learn the news of the world the same
as if they were on land. A bulletin is published daily on board giving
news of the leading happenings of the world.
There is a perfect fire alarm system on board with fire mains on each
side of the ship from which connections are taken to every separate
department. There are boxes with hydrant and valve in each room and
a system of break glass fire alarms with a drop indicator box in the
chartroom and also one in the engine-room to notify in case of any
outbreak.
The sanitation is all that could be desired. There are flush lavatories
on all decks in marble and onyx and with all the sanitary contrivances
in apparatus of the best design.
The vessel is propelled by four screws, rotated by turbine engines and
the power developed is equal to that of 68,000 horses. Now 68,000
horses placed head to tail in a single line would reach a distance of
90 miles or as far as from New York to Philadelphia; and if the steeds
were harnessed twenty abreast there would be no fewer than 3,400 rows
of powerful horses.
Such is the steamship of to-day but there is no doubt that the thousand
foot boat is coming, which probably will cross the Atlantic ocean in
less than four days if not in three. But the question is, where shall
we put her, that is, where shall we dock her?
To build a thousand foot pier to accommodate her, appears like a good
answer to this question, but the great difficulty is that there are
United States Government regulations restricting the length of piers
to 800 feet. Docking space along the shore of New York harbor is too
valuable to permit the ship being berthed parallel to the shore,
therefore vessels must dock at right angles to the shore. Some
provisions must soon be made and the regulations as to dock lengths
revised.
The thousand footer may be here in a couple of years or so. In the
meantime the two 840 footers are already on the stocks at Belfast and
are expected to arrive early in 1911. Before they come changes and
improvements must be made in the docking and harbor facilities of the
port of New York.
If higher speed is demanded, increased size is essential, since with
even the best result every 100 horse-power added involves an addition
to machinery weight of approximately 14 tons and to the area occupied
of about 40 square feet. To accomplish this the ship must be as much
larger in proportion.
The ship designer has to work within circumscribed limits. If he could
make his vessel of any depth he might build much larger and there would
be theoretically no limit to his speed: 40 knots an hour might be
obtained as easily as the present maximum of 26, but in designing his
ship he must remember that in the harbors of New York or Liverpool the
channels are not much beyond 30 feet in depth. High speed necessitates
powerful engines, but if the engines be too large there will not be
space enough for coal to feed the furnaces. If the breadth of the ship
is increased the speed is diminished, while on the other hand, if too
powerful engines are put in a narrow vessel she will break her back.
The proper proportions must be carefully studied as regards length,
breadth, depth and weight so that the vessel will derive the greatest
speed from her engines.
CHAPTER VII
WONDERFUL CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE
Mating Plants--Experiments of Burbank--What he has Accomplished.
In California lives a wonderful man. He has succeeded in doing more
than making two blades of grass grow where grew but one. Yearly, daily
in fact, this wizard of plant life is playing tricks on old Mother
Nature, transforming her vegetable children into different shapes and
making them no longer recognizable in their original forms. Like the
fairies in Irish mythology, this man steals away the plant babies, but
instead of leaving sickly elves in their places, he brings into the
world exceedingly healthy or lusty youngsters which grow up into a
full maturity, and develop traits of character superior to the ones
they supplant. For instance he took away the ugly, thorny insipid
cactus and replaced it by a beautiful smooth juicy one which is now
making the western deserts blossom as the rose. The name of this man
is Luther Burbank whose fame as a creator of new plants has become
world wide.
The basic principle of Burbank's plant magic comes under two heads,
viz.: breeding and selection. He mates two different species in such
a way that they will propagate a type partaking of the natures of both
but superior to either in their qualities. In order to effect the best
results from mating, he is choice in his selection of species--the
best is taken and the worst rejected. It is a universal law that the
bad can never produce the good; consequently when good is desired, as
is universally the case, bad must be eliminated. In his method, Burbank
gives the good a chance to assert itself and at the same time takes
away all opportunity from the bad. So that the latter cannot thrive
but must decay and pass out of being. He takes two plants--they may
be of the same species, but as a general rule he prefers to experiment
with those of different species; he perceives that neither one in its
present surroundings is putting forth what is naturally expected from
it, that each is either retrograding in the scale of life or standing
still for lack of encouragement to go forward. He knows that back of
these plants is a long history of evolutions from primitive beginnings
to their present stage just as in the case of man himself. 'Tis a far
cry from the cliff-dweller wielding his stone-axe and roaming nude
through the fields and forests after his prey--the wild beast--to the
lordly creature of to-day--the product of long ages of civilization
and culture, yet high as the state is to which man has been brought,
in many cases he is hemmed in and surrounded by circumstances which
preclude him from putting forth the best that is in him and showing
his full possibilities to the world. The philosopher is often hidden
in the ploughman and many a poor laborer toiling in corduroys and
fustian at the docks, in the mills, or sweeping the streets may have
as good a brain as Edison, but has not the opportunity to develop it
and show its capabilities. The same analogy is applicable to plant
life. Under adverse conditions a plant or vegetable cannot put forth
its best efforts. In a scrawny, impoverished soil, and exhausted
atmosphere, lacking the constituents of nurture, the plant will become
dwarfed and unproductive, whereas on good ground and in good air, which
have the succulent properties to nourish it the best results may be
expected. The soil and the air, therefore, from which are derived the
constituents of plant life, are indispensably necessary, but they are
not the primal principles upon which that life depends for its being.
The basis, the foundation, the origin of the life is the seed which
germinates in the soil and evolves itself into the plant.
A dead seed will not germinate, a contaminated seed may, but the plant
it produces will not be a healthy one and it will only be after a long
series of transplantings, with patience and care, that at length a
really sound plant will be obtained. The same principle holds good in
regard to the human plant. It is hard to offset an evil ancestry. The
contamination goes on from generation to generation, just as in the
case of the notorious Juke family which cost New York State hundreds
of thousands of dollars in consequence of criminality and idiocy. It
requires almost a miracle to divert an individual sprung from a corrupt
stem into a healthy, moral course of living. There must be some powerful
force brought to bear to make him break the ligatures which bind him
to ancestral nature and enable him to come forth on a plane where he
will be susceptible to the influence of what is good and noble. Such
can be done and has been accomplished.
Burbank is accomplishing such miracles in the vegetable kingdom, in
fact he is recreating species as it were and developing them to a full
fruition. Of course as in the case of the conversion of a sinner from
his evil instincts, much opposition is met and the progress at first
is slow, but finally the plant becomes fixed in its new ways and starts
forward on its new course in life. It requires patience to await the
development Burbank is a man of infinite patience. He has been five,
ten, fifteen, twenty years in producing a desired blossom, but he
considers himself well rewarded when his object has been obtained.
Thousands of experiments are going on at the same time, but in each
case years are required to achieve results, so slow is the work of
selection, the rejecting of the seemingly worthless and the eternal
choosing of the best specimens to continue the experiments.
When two plants are united to produce a third, no human intelligence
can predict just what will be the result of the union. There may be
no result at all; hence it is that Burbank does not depend on one
experiment at a time. If he did the labors of a life-time would have
little to show for their work. In breeding lilies he has used as high
as five hundred thousand plants in a single test. Such an immense
quantity gave him a great variety of selection. He culled and rejected,
and culled and rejected until he made his final selection for the last
test.
Sometimes he is very much disappointed in his anticipations. For
instance, he marks out a certain life for a flower and breeds and
selects to that end. For a time all may go according to his plans, but
suddenly some new trait develops which knocks those plans all out of
gear. The new flower may have a longer stem and narrower leaves than
either parent, while a shorter stem and broader leaves are the
desideratum. The experimenter is disappointed, but not disheartened;
he casts the flower aside and makes another selection from the same
species and again goes ahead, until his object is attained.
It may be asked how two plants are united to procure a third. The act
is based on the procreative law of nature. Plant-breeding is simply
accomplished by sifting the pollen of one plant upon the stigma of
another, this act--pollenation--resulting in fertilization, Nature in
her own mysterious ways bringing forth the new plant.
In order to get an idea of the Burbank method, let us consider some
of his most famous experiments, for instance, that in which by uniting
the potato with the tomato he has produced a new variety which has
been very aptly named the pomato. Mr. Burbank, from the beginning of
his wonderful career, has experimented much with the potato. It was
this vegetable which first brought the plant wizard into worldwide
prominence. The Burbank potato is known in all lands where the tuber
forms an article of food. It has been introduced into Ireland and
promises to be the salvation of that distressed island of which the
potato constitutes the staple diet. The Burbank potato is the hardiest
of all varieties and in this respect is well suited for the colder
climates of the Temperate Zone. Apart from this potato which bears his
name, Mr. Burbank has produced many other varieties. He has blended
wild varieties with tame ones, getting very satisfactory results. Mr.
Burbank believes that a little wild blood, so to speak, is often
necessary to give tone and vigor to the tame element which has been
long running in the same channels. Probably it was Emerson, his favorite
author, who gave him the cue for this idea. Emerson pointed out that
the city is recruited from the country. "The city would have died out,
rotted and exploded long ago," wrote the New England sage, "but that
it was reinforced from the fields. It is only country that came to
town day before yesterday, that is city and court to-day."
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