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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1917-7-12, Page 2What .An Auto Engine Is. The essential parts of the motor are few and easily learned, Every one has heard of an engine having, four, six, or more cylinders: The cylinder is the important part of the engine. Inside it are the moving parts which give power. The more cylinders em- ployed the smoother the engine is sup- posed to run, The moving parts in- side are first the piston, then the wrist pin passing through it. This serves as a hinge for the connecting rod which transmits the I ower to the crank shaft running the length of the engine and receiving power from all the cylinders. The purpose of the piston is four- fold: First, to draw in the fresh mix- ture on the suction stroke; second, to compress it on the compression stroke; third, to receive the force of the ex- plosion on the power stroke and trans- mit it to the cranio shaft, and fourth, to push out the burned gases on the exhaust stroke. The wrist pin serves as a hinge and the connecting rod passes the power along, transmitting it to the crank shaft and causing same to revolve. The action is almost identical with that of the foot on a bicycle pedal, The leg moves up and down in a reciprocating manner and causes the pedal to revolve." In the same way the connecting rod and crank shaft change reciprocating mo- tion into motion of revolution. The four strokes .fthe engine, just mentioned, however, cannot fully be understood until the valves are ex- plained. There are two of these to each cylinder, one to let in the fresh gas, called the "inlet valve," and the other to let out the burned gas, called the "exhaust valve." They are held tightly closed by springs and are only opened when occasion requires. To do this a cam shaft is necessary. It is a. long shaft, running the length of the motor, with as many cams as there are valves. A cam is a projec- tion on the side of a shaft, smooth in outline, which revolves with the shaft and so opens the valves. It does not touch the valve directly, however, as there is a small part called a "valve lifter" which reaches from cern to valve stem. This gives a more direct push to the valve, gives a broad sur- face for wear, and has an adjustment which enables one to secure best re- sults in operation, The necessary connection with the crank shaft is provided by the "two - to -one gears," or "half-time gears," as they are sometimes called. The gear on the cam shaft has twice as many teeth as the gear on the crank shaft. Since this arrangement drives the cern shaft at half the speed of the crank shaft, it will be readily seen why they are called "half-time gears." Now that we have arranged for the operation of the valves, it will be easy to understand what follows. The pis- ton goes down with the inlet valve open. This sucks in the 'fresh gas and is called the suction stroke. Hav- ing filled the cylinder with explosive mixture, the piston now rises, forcing the gas into the top of the cylinder, the "combustion chamber." As both valves are tightly closed, the gas can- not escape but is compressed in the top, of the cylinder. So this is called the compression stroke. Now comes the electric spark, setting fire to the com- pressed gas, which burns, expanding as it does so. The pressure develop- ed by the expanding gas drives the piston down, setting crank shaft and flywheel in motion, thus producing power. This is the power stroke. Both valves remain tightly closed un- til the piston nears the end of the power stroke, when the exhaust valve opens to let out the burned gases. As the piston returns upward it drives out the burned gases effecting the ex- haust stroke. This is followed again by the inlet stroke, and the series of operations is repeated so long as the engine runs. CATHERINE BRESHKOVSKAYA Scene at the Trial in 1910 of the "Little Grandmother of the Revolution." I was present in the grim court in the Liteinyt Prospect in Petrograd in the spring of 1910, writes a corres- po.ndent to the Manchester Guardian, when sentence was pronounced on Catherine Breshkovskaya• I shall never forget the stoicism of this won- derful old lady. The judges, repre- sentative of the various social order., each dressed in the uniform or cos - tune pertaining to his class, filed into their places on the bench. Mme. Breshkovskaya and her fellow prison- er, M. Tehaikovsky, stood when the president rose to read the sentence. The stillness was unearthly. After a brief resume of the case the president announced the acquittal of M. Tchaikovsky, Turning to Mme. Breshkovskaya, he said that, as she had pleaded guilty to and even grori- fled in her membersip in the Central Revolutionary Committee, there was nothing to do except to pass sentence of banishment, Throughout the read- ing of the sentence the dignified old lady looked straight at the president and only momentarily lowered her eyelids when the decree of banish- ment was pronoaneed. A well-known press correspondent and I were permitted to talk to her for a few minutes. She was plainly gowned In black, with a cameo brooch at the throat. .ler hair was quite white, but she had a pink complexion that a debutante might have envied. She smiled most sweetly and, speak- ing perfect English, but pronouncing each word separately and distinctly, said: "I am so glad to greet you, and to speak English with you. It Is many years ulnae I have spoken your lang- uage. I am so happy because you have come and spoken to me." In reply to our expressions of sym- pathy, she remarked: "Do not let this trouble you. I have been through it ail before." The guard intervened, but just be- fore she was led away Mme. Bresh- kovskaya leaned over the edge of the dock, kissed each of us on the lore• head and cheerfully wished us "Good - by I" Friends in 'England and Ameri- ca sent her gifts of money and cloth- ing to her faraway place 61 banish- ment, but she gave the money to her fellow exiles, and all she would accept of the clothing was a set of woolen garments. THE OLD SUN -DIAL. In a sweet old English garden, 'Midst the lilies tall and fair, Crimson cloves and damask roses Breathing fragrance in the air, You will find a moss -grown sun -dial, And with patient care may trace Wisdom in the Latin motto Qauintly carven on its face. On the lichen -covered marble Where the ivy tendrils twine, "I will number not the hours When the sun forgets to shine," To our hearts we take this wisdom, Garnered in the days of old, We will keep no recollection Of the moments grey and cold. But will treasure in remembrance All the happy, halcyon days, When the way of life was sparkling, And its sun was all ablaze. Golden light of Iove shall linger In its glory all divine, We will number not the hours When the sun forgets to shine. —Charles H. Mansfield. tip--- - REMEMBRANCE. I plucked a primrose sweet this morn; 1 I rested on a grassy mound, And marked the land, from heaven crown'd With fiow'rs of gold, I heard no sound In that dear haven I had found, Save an the wind, a huntsman's horn, HOW TO. BEAT THE U-BOAT PIRATES! SUMMARY BY EXPERT OF:SOME COMBATIVE MEASURES The Navies of the World Are Battling With the Sternest Menace In Britain's History, There is no infallible remedy against the submarine at the moment, but there is Just as couch reason to be• Revs that we shall ultimately master the U-boat as there was that we should master the Zeppelin, writes an English authority. And we know now that the high -flying, swift -travelling aeroplane is more than a match for the gasbag. The submarine will be conquere not by one means, but by a variety o means, cleverly co-ordinated. Th problem, while it calls for new 1nven dons, also demands the intensifica tion of existing antisubmarine mea sures. Hussars of the Sea. d e What are the ways in which the submarine can be fought ? There is, to begin with, the simple expedient of destroying its frail carcase with shell- fire. The armed merchantman that gets its shot in first stands a good chance of sinking its U-boat assailant. That is why the properly -armed ship 1 with expert gunners has ten lives com- pared to the one life of the unarmed ship. The U-boat positively loathes the armed trawler u boon yq. for our trawlers have sent many of the sea -pirates to their doom, either with well -directed fire, or by crashing into them. But more than the armed trawler, the submarine hates the thir- ty -knot destroyer, at the sight of which she at ouce'prepares to submerge, and, happily for us, often too late. There are any number of instances where 1.1%. boats have been cut in two by violent collision with the Hussars of the ocean, and it can be imagined what it must be like for a U-boat commander to see the sharp, ominous form of, a destroyer racing towards him, its track marked by a ribbon of white foam. Duels in the Deep. Catching the U-boat in nets is a source which worked successfully in the earlier days of the war, when the submarines specialized in local waters. The advent of the ocean-going U-boat, however, has limited the possibilities of ,netting the pirates, since it is obvious that there are not enough nets in the world to apply to the sea - lanes of traffic, The U-boat fears the mine, and it generally moves in the daylight to avoid it, resting at night below the surface of the water, on the sea-bed. Mines, nevertheless, take a substan• tial toll of submarines, and it may be that in a far greater extension of mines lies a much more effective U- boat menace. The submarine can also be fought by the submarine. If when tice war broke out we had had Zeppelins, they would certainly have been used to fight their kind. An. Italian submarine has shown how practicable it is to op- pose submarine to submarine. Each can seek the other out, and in the dramatic duel below the water victory will go to the better boat and the bet- ter crew, which, after all, is all that any sportsmanlike and fair-minded nation could wish for. We shall sure - y live to see not isolated encounters between U-boats and E -Boats, but act- ual battles, in which hall a dozen units on either side may participate, Importance of Aircraft. I gazed into dear eyes this morn; Clear eyes of blue that vainly tried, Through burning tears their fear to hide; Sweet trembling lips to cheer me lied A fragile form clung to my side, And pray'rs went out for Peace Days dawn For ere to-morraw's sun is born, I go to France, to blood -red skies, To hear no sound save hell -sent cries, Perchance to gaze in glassy eyes, Perchance to sever love's sweet ties And I plucked, a primrose sweet this morn 1 —Leon Pollock, Tell your pleasant experiences but keep your troubles to yourself. b Seaplanes are a splendid means of combating the submarines. They can spot the U-boat, and attack it with bombs or with charges, the tremen- dous violence of whose explosion must destroy any light craft in the immed- iate vicinity, and there is no more deli- cate floating craft than a submarine. The importance of aircraft in warning merchantmen of the presence of U- boats can hardly be exaggerated. 'If we sum up the generally known means of fighting the U-boat, they are as follows : (1) Sinking by shell -fire. (2) Destruction by collision. (3) Catching with nets. (4) Blowing up with mines. (5) Destroying by submarine attack. (6) Sinking by aircraft bombs or 'depth charges.' In addition, there are other devices elongjnlg to anti-submarine organize - tions, snail as fouling the periscopes with fatty or resinous matter, Over which a veil must be drawn, The U-boat, in presence" of all these measures aiming 'at ite destruction, seeks safety largely by"avoiding, as far as possible, the jnrotectec areas, or by piercing the cortin of protec- tive measures, It is a reasonable ar- gument, then, that the more the scope of the anti-submarine measures is widened, the greater the menace to the pirates. Seen in this light, the problem re- solves itself into ,one of constructing combative means quicker than the Germans can build or replace sub- marines, and the greater encourage- ment of those restless, mechanical geniuses—"mechanical" here being used in the engineering sense—who, when called upon by Mr, Lloyd George at the time he was organizing the Ministry of Munitions, helped us first to cope with, and then to eclipse, the trench warfare material of the enemy. A Wise Warning. The U-boat, wit}4,tita travel radius of three thousand miles, must ever have some successes; but the number of then can be reduced in time as scarcely to affeet the issue. If a dozen Zeppelins come over England to -day, cue or two may still hope to escape; the fact that heavy losses, however, are practically inevitable makes the game hardly worth the candle. When the day in which far more U-boats are sunk than can be built arrives, that day sees the German submarine pro- perly countered, and in. the belief of competent judges it is not so distant as some people imagine. We are told that in default of a sovereign remedy against the U-boats, our best and only plan is to reduce the demands on available shipping by cut- ting down imports to the utmost limits, and build new ships as fast as possible. This is a wise warning, but it would be folly to argue from it that it im- plies any cessation in the efforts to fight the submarines. The Uuwearying Hunt. Thi U-boats must be hunted with an ever-increasing number of patrols, destroyers, seaplanes, and submarines; there must be hundreds of seaplanes to spot them and bomb them, and many more minefields to make their movements in the lanes of traffic far more precarious. The genius of Allied inventors might, in the course of their experi- ments, devise more effective means of betraying the presence of U-boats, and, with their location, a more effec- tive means of securing their destruc- tion, What man builds, man can destroy. In essence, the problem of the U-boat s no greater than the problem of the Zeppelin, which we have successfully countered. It is a question of tireless study—concentration—just as air as- cendancy is a question of increasing improvement and experimentation. Given a multiplication, even of exist- ing anti-submarine measures, and, with confidence, it can be said that the U-boat menace loses nine-teenths of its gravity. The destruction of U-boat lairs; needless to say, enters into the pro- blem; but that is rather a matter of Grand Fleet stategy. THE BEGINNING OF THE TANKS. li Had. Their First Trial in the Bogs of Lincolnshire. It was the Foster prairie -engine for agriculture] purposes, with its huge travelling wheels, that was the germ of the Tank. A plan was sub- mitted' to the authorities by Messrs. W. Foster & Co., a Lincolnshire firm, and in time, after much labor and dis- cussion, two uncouth mobsters took shape. These were tried on Lincoln- shire bogland first„then, at dead of night, over a slippery hillside, a trench, a” shell -crater, and barbed' wire. Finally, there was an official test "somewhere in England." Secretly, the tanks were taken to the trial ground. Over a piece of ground which had been made to resemble the worst part of the war zone they were driven, and the keen, critical eyes of British and French military experts watched the two tanks clear trenches, crush clown parapets, ignore barbed wire, and negotiate a big, muddy puddle. Numbers of tanks were then built with admirable speed and secrecy, and the crews trained. Then one day there came a report, dated September 16th, from Sir Douglas Haig, that "we used a new type of heavy -armor- ed car, which has been of great as- sistance." The tank had made its de- but. ;4 CONTROL OF SEAS IS CHIEF --FACTOR PEACE WILL COME WHEN SUB. MARINE IS CURBED; Concentration Which Prgduced Ef- fective Army Must be Applied to Combat Sub Warfare. Three years of the war have'served two purposes: First, to push all reasonable pros- pect of a decision further ahead than 'On July first Canada celebrated the it seemyd at the beginning; and, semi -centennial celebration of Con - Second„ to turn the whole situation federation, Piano firm 18 Yearn Older than Confederation topsyturvy. At the beginning Britain's navy was the dominating maritime factor,' •GeL•- many's army was all powerful on land, says a London writer. To -day the British navy hap lost control of the sea, and the Germany army has lost control on lard. In this reversal of form, however, decision has not been brought closer, The German army is not supreme; but also it is not beaten. The British navy is not ruling the seas; but the German navy has by no means won the struggle for maritime control. If it has taken three years to revise the understanding of what a modern war is without bringing decision in sight, how long may it be expected to take to organize and win a decision un- der the new conditions that are just beginning to be understood? Submarines a Big Factor. It is only since the unrestricted sub- marine campaign Peached its present stage of continuing and increasing ef- fectiveness that the public at large has been brought to realize the probability of a long war. - The German submarines are inflict- ing more damage upon the Allies through the destruction of shipping is looked upon as probably marking than the allied armies in France are the beginning of the war's end. The inflicting on the Germans through the public is indulging in fascinating gradual destruction of the German, dreams of an early victory through positions and the slow recovery of 00- success in that quarte:. Attention cupied territory. There is good res- is being given more .and more to the son to be1ieve,that the Allies' super- maritime problem, while the military iority in artillery and other equkrnent situation is considered in a satisfac- makes it possible for them to con- tory position. duct offensive fighting with less loss The same energy and enterprise than the Germans are compelled to devoted to the submarine problem that sustain on`the defensive. That has made it possible for England to raise been, indeed, the rule of this war, re- versing the rule of former great con- tests, because this is so greatly a war of machinery. The Allies are estab- lishing a distinct superiority in ma- chinery. But the great outstanding develop- ment to this date is the fact that there is no such thing any longer as control of the sea. The Germans cannot sail their merchant shipping on the seas and the British . cannot 'protect and support their merchant marine. The sea is no longer the safe highway for either side. The British fleet can blockade Ger- many to the extent of driving German ships off -the ocean, but cannot shut up the German naval bases so tightly as to prevent the submarines coming and going. If the German fleet would come out and fight a real naval supre- macy presently might be established by the Allies, because if the fleet were once substantially destroyed it would be possible -for the allied naval Powers to attack the German naval bases. But those bases are so powerfully defend- ed by mines, by submarines and by land fortifications that a direct attack on them even by the greatly superior British fleet would involve too great chances. To make that attempt and lose would be to forfeit the last claim, to control of the sea. Britain Recognizes Situation. Unless the submarine can be de- finitely subjugated it must be accepted as having completely revolutionized the whole art of naval war: There will be no such thing as a free ocean Jing a source of income, are well highway in the future. There can known to be one of expense. be no reasonable guarantee of security As for the millions of dollars the Many has made in this war and so in war time under the rules that Ger- Emperor is stated to have invested in Il,00king back over the progress ac- complished in Canada during those years, the many remarkable achieve- ments seem hardly, possible. The Industries of Canada have pro- gressed step by step as the population increased. Among the older "truly Canadian" firms is The Williams Piano Co„ Ltd„ of Oshawa, Ont., makers of the famous Williams New Scale Plano,, It., S. Williams came from England and established this concern in 1849- 68 years ago. Canadians will feel proud to know that they have such a "truly Canadian" piano—the Williams New Scale, which they can be proud to place in their home. The Williams Plano Co, at Oshawa will be glad to send interesting, points concerning the "Artist Choice" piano, free upon re- quest. somehow or other be kept going long enough to get time and opportunity to devise means of coping with the submarine. • Attention Focussed on Sea. The most encouraging feature of the situation is that at last there is a thor- ough appreciation of what the problem It that must be,,dealt with. The cam- paign in the north of France no longer and equip its army of 5,000,000 men in fewer than three years will bring a solution of the submarine problem and restore something like the original relationship of powers on the sea. Tardily, but with all zeal and deter- mination, the British Government is turning its attention to this problem of the sea. There is no thought of failure, no hesitation in any quarter in insisting that there must be only one result—the conquest of the sub- marine and the restoration of- the right of a free sea. THE KAISER'S INVESTMENTS. German Emperor's Reported Foreign Holdings is a Fairy Tale. The story of the German Emperor's investments hi America and else- where, ,as given 'in a London Sunday paper, meets with small credence in circles most likely to know some- thing reliable about such subjects, says an English writer. To begin with, it has long been a, matter of common notoriety that the War Lord has repeatedly been in financial straits. For, large as was the in- coine he inherited as King of Prussia', —the dignity of German Emperor does not bring him in a red cent—his "out -goings" are enoithous. It need be only recalled that he has between fifty and sixty chateaux to keep up,1 several of which he has repeatedly tried to dispose of. Also his various industrial speculations, far from be - long as the submarine continues as ef- fective as it now is. The effects of this development will be far reaching and more important than can yet be realized, The British Empire depends for its stability on the maintenance of supremacy at sea, alacl if that suprem- acy is definitely lost the empire can- not permanentlybe held together. Englishmen realize, and the most far seeing of them adroit all this. But to them it means not that the empire is to be abandoned, not that the sea as the world's highway is to be surrend- ered, but merely that the war must Hamburg, -American and North Ger- man Lloyd shares, the directors of 'these two important -.concerns could tell a very different tale, namely, that they have had to pay heavily for the "booming" which he has, in many ways, given them from time to time.: -Altogether these fairy tales of the; foreign investments of sovereign princes are to be Incepted for what' they are worth—nothing at all. 1' The heavy horse produces the most power for feed consumed when draw- ing a load at the rate of two and one- half -miles per hours. i IMONDEi Wi4AT.TOM DID WITH YHE MAGAZINE --LI WAS READING .GE) MOOire. am co lax teb X7z.fres . LTo M .DID YalJ TAKE ;y MAGAziaEe KING GEORGE WINS SUBJECTS' HEARTS MANY RECRUITS GAINED BY HIS SOLICITUDE. War Has Brought Sovereign Into Closer Touch With 'His- People Than Ever Before, IKing pdwai'd and Queen Alexandra, during the nnany years they were Prince and Princess of Wares, had long lived in the country's affection, and the present Ifing and Queen had before thein' a difficult task in filling the place vacated to them by the death of King Edward and the tem- / porary retirement from social life of the bereaved Queen Mother,. But the war brought them into closer touch with the people than ever, any sovereign had been. Their in- terest in the work and welfare of the people, their kindly sympathy with the suffering and the bereaved, quick- ly won the hearts of their humblest subjects. Their heartfelt solicitude won thousands of recruits from among the stubbornest shirkers, -Their Majesties' Sympathy Again some touching stories are told of the recent tourof the King and Queen to tate industrial towns of the north, At one large plant the Queen asked a woman, "Flow long have you been working here ?" "Ever since It started, Your Majes- ty," she replied. "And are any of your family at the front ?" "Oh, yes, Your Majesty. All my men are fighting, or have died fight- ing. My husband and three sons are at the front, two in Egypt and two in France, and I have lost a nephew." No doubt Queen Mary has heard many such replies to her questions, but it was with deep emotion and with an impulsive hand clasp that the Queen said, "What a splendid record." The King's geniality is illustrated by his brief conversation with a workman who had lost his leg is action.. Going straight up to hint and shaldng bands, the King asked, "What regiment did you fight in ?" "In the Royal Weleh Fusiliers," was the reply. "Oh," said the King, "that was my old regiment." `Learning that the nun was wounded in Gallipoli, ;the King asked had he not got an artificial limb. "Yes," re- plied the man, ".but I can't wear it— my leg is too tender.". The Duke of Lancaster. The King, on the occasion of hi°s last trip to Lancashire;" in 1913, aroused great enthusiasm and no lit- tle consternation at a banquet by sug- gesting that during his tours in the county he should always be referred to as the Duke of Lancaster, which is one of his right titles. The idea did not appeal to some of the court of &vials, however, and in subsequent correspondence with the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the King's Secretary stated that while it was His Majesty's wish that he should not be called the Duke of Lancaster oil formal oc- casions,lie nevertheless hoped that in the County Palatine he should be toasted In those terms, and this prac- tice itis been unanimously followed ever since that time, The Princess try There are increasing indications that Princess Mary!is'to play a larger part as her mother's "deputy" in the Royal family's association witlioh`aiit- able efforts than has heretofore been the case, Recently, while the Queen has been touring in the North with the King, the Princess represented her mother at the Duchess of Wel- lington's variety entertainment at Apsley House for the benefit of the Mesopotamia sufferers, and after- wards of war medals. Iter Royal` Highness las now reached her twenty-first year, but up to the present she has seldom been seen in -'public except in company of the Queen.- indeed the Princess has no "household," and is only mann- panted by one of Nes• Majesty's maids of honor, GUARDIANS I TEE PEACE. Federation of English-speaking Races Would Ensure Peace. Some people are optimistic enough to think that, by this present war, war itself has committed suicide, has destroyed itself. That is a large hope, and perhaps does not take sufficient account of the vagaries and follies of human nature. But the best guarantee of the world's peace Is undoubtedly a feder- ation of the English-speaking' races of the world. United, they bold the key of: the gates of war and peace. Whether any alliance is made or not between all the English-speaking e conimunities,of the globe, and main- tained ;through the centuries, the friendship of true freedom, untram- melled by dynasties anti autocracies, will be all on the side of peace, and the time may pome When British ideas of justice and toleration will become universal. Two Paris surgeons have discov erect the germ that causes gangrene, and they have prepared a aernni to combat it,