Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1917 — Page 3

Tiny Warships Predict How Big Ones Will Speed

On the water of the model experiment basin at the PUashingt(fn~navyyard each new vessel of Uncle Sam’s fleets is tested before construction by means of.toy reproduction

~~~—— OU HAVE taken a patriotic pride in the sliced performances of American fight- - ing ships, and if you have followed these showings closely you hav<* no *: doubt been impressed with the steady . jBJL advance made. •Each year naval ves- . - seis have shown consistent improvement in speed, seaworthiness and engineering economy. but have you ever paused to ask how these results are primarily made possible'? This is the direct fruit of the model experimental basin.

The model tank, as it is generally called for brevity’s sake, is the establishment in which small models of prospective ships are made and tried on a reduced scale. When congress was asked to appropriate money for the plant which is now an interesting and important department of the navy yard at Washington, the proposition was looked upon as involving an expensive toy. Since then, however, the work done there preliminary to the building of warships has.represented a saving of many hundreds of thousands of dollars, besides Insuring the designed performance of the man-of-war.

Tills Is a not her exampleofthe old rule of thumb being supplanted by the certainties of science. Without going too far into the history of things, it i* sufficient to know that an Englishman, Dr. William Froude, discovered ffack in the seventies that there was a comparable relation between the power required to draw a small model through the water and the motive energy needed to propel a big craft of similar form. The principle which he discovered later became known as Froude’s law or the law of comparison. His studies were first made with miniatures and then verified by <he towing of a Ihrgq,vessel formed on Identical lines. Wltlun “the last twenty years there have been created and developed many vessels of novel types and the results obtained would have been virtually out of the question but for the model tank. Millions of dollars would have been wasted in blind groping instead of obtaining positive assurance of what the finished vessel would do before a single cent was spent in her building. dne illustration will suffice. Among the vessels in the naval review is the gunboat Nashville, designed in 1894. She had a displacement of about 1,375 tons and, with 2,500 horse power, makes 16 knots. Last year the model tank developed the hull form for the gunboat Sacramento, a vessel of 300 tons more displacement, but of a speed of 10 knots upon a development of only 2,000 horse power. This' saving of 500 horse power, calculated nt S6O a horse power, meant an economy JnJttrst cost of machinery of $30,000; but it also meant that the larger gunboat could be driven at a speed equal to her smaller sister ship. Upon 300 tons Thebigger Sacramento could carry a more powerful armament, go farther upon the same supply of fuel and be more weatherly in storiny seas; in brief, be a much better unit of the fleet. And all of this was made certain by the expenditure of a’ few hundred dollars for wooderf models and their testing, the lines of the hull being altered during these tests until the best length and shape were obtained. All of the models tested at Washington are of a uniform length of 20 feet, and the purpose of making them so large is to reduce the possible error in translating the performance figures of the model into those of the full-sized vessel. These models are made of wood and are fashioned in a machine especially designed for this work. Next the model is painted and carefully varnished, tn order to obtain a very smooth surface; and with tills done various waterlines are marked upon the white paint, so that instantaneous photographs taken during the towing tests will show just how and where the waves and the hollows produced by the miniature in motion are developed. When the model is ready it is carried to the basin and there loaded in the balancing tank with bags of shot until it has the right weight or displacement and proper trim or poise upon the water. With this done it is ready to be attached to the towing carriage and tested. . The towing carriage is a sort of a mobile bridge which straddles the main tank and it is driven by electricity, the different speeds being under very nice control. Upon the towing carriage are all of the operative switches and measuring instruments ■and also the recording mechahism which marks the speed of the model and its pull or resistance when drawn through the water. The alm is to obtain a ship form which will show the least pull or resistance at the desired maximum velocity. The _ actual speed of the model is a mathematical ratio o f rim relation between this miniature and tfiefullslzed ship, and therefore the model does not travel fast, if you consider what the big craft will really do. ' * • '■ '. ■ The towing basin is 370 feet long and 43 feet wide, and the maximum speed of the carriage is relatively far in excess of the probable speeds of anything but freak crafts. , J After a model of satisfactory form has been developed and tested, then comes the further task of making the figures of the trials applicable to ■the Intended ship. . Now there is just one part of this work which does not follow Fronde's law of comparison. This !• the factor of the friction set up between the

water and the wetted surface of the vessel’s underbody. This resistance follows a law of its own and it is necessary to tow another model which consists of a thin plate just as long as the -small craft and with a submerged surface exactly equal to that of the model. From these two tests, that of the plane and that of the model, the designer has the information he wants and this information covers various trials over a wide range of speeds, so that the naval architect knows both the maximum and the cruising speeds at which the vessel can be propelled most economically. The cruising speed is an important one, because it is at this ratio of travel that ships of war go most of the time. Full speed is really a battle reserve or something to be called for only when urgency demands. In this particular, fighting ships differ radically-from the ocean greyhound of commerce. But don’t think that the naval designer has an easy ttfsk even with the model tank at his dis-

Wrecks Pay Interest on Railroad Debt

“Whee! Some wreck! Say, pop, how did the camera man happen to be there when the train jumped the track?’-’— ——— When father’s boy asked that at the picture show dad “stalled.” To be sure he did. How could a hard-working father be expected to answer the whys and wherefores of the movie business? Didn’t he furnish the nickel? And wasn’t the wreck good enough? "Ennyhow,” said ma, “the picture man is always there;” ' —- —* "•— ‘ - “Nix 1 I saw a coal truck hit a garbage wagon t’other day," said boy, “an’ there wa’n’t no camera man around. Peach of a picture, too.” But the “picture man’’ gets the w’recks, all right; he buys ’em. “Ready-made wrecks, gen’lemen I Head-ons, rear-ends and track-jumping. First mountain to the left —step lively!” And so gather round the printer man while he spins a yarn as to" how the camera man, like Snapshot Bill, is always hard by when the train is wrecked, to-wit: __xl—’Under the heading of “Wrecks and Automobile Smash-Ups” the Income account of the Wharton and Northern Railroad shows that the company adds about $30,000 to its yearly earnings. This sum is more than equal to the interest on the road’s outstanding bonded indebtedness. While other railroads in the country look upon a wreck or smash-up of any kind as a direct cause of financial loss, to say nothing of the expense of endless litigation and the loss of patronage, the Wharton and Northern makes an entry on the credit side of the ledger every time it sends an engine crashing into an automobile or a train of " cars tumbling down the hillside. The road extends from Wharton to Green Point ’ Junction, in Morris county, New Jersey, a distance - of about twenty-two miles. It forms a link be- <■ tween the Erie and Lackawanna lines. It travft rugged section of the* state of New Jersey, through what is known as the Copperas mountains, a continuation ,of the Appalachian range. The hills are grand masses of grafiite, veined with magnetic Iron - ore. Historically, this section of the country is Interesting, for it was there that much of the Iron used in making firearms and munitions during the War of" the Revolution wa-r smelted and forged. Plowshares and other Implements employed- In peaceful pursuits were also produced. AH of this property at one time belonged to Queen Charlotte ,of England and comprised what was known as the Charlotte grant. The Wharton Steel company of Philadelphia, which- now owns some five thousand acres, is the owner of the Wharton and Northern railroad. the steel Industry was at low ebb, a few .MWhrs ago, the road’s earnings slumped badly, and Mr. P. E. Stryker, the general*superintendent, be-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. - RENSSELAER, IND.

posal. The speed trials of the full-sized ships are not less Important to him because they give him a check upon his model work. This check is very necessary inasmuch as it enables the designer to bridge over the gap between his model and the real vessel year by year with more exactness. The builder of the hull structure, the naval architect or naval constructor, has only a share in the final product. The naval engineer must take up the problem where his brother ends. That is to say, the engineer knows just what energy his propellers must exert effectively against the water in order to force the ship along at her several speeds. He, too, must work from the outside of the ship inward up to a point. Thfe position of the propeller in relation to the hull and the very form of the propeller must be suited to the particular craft in question. These can be tried in miniature in association with the model for the determination of some data, but after that- the engineer draw upon experience and his carefully tabulated records of other performances. —The average annual expenditures for the maintenance of the model basin at Washington are under ?25,000, and this is a trifling sum compared with the savings which have been effected through careful designing. In the case of the three scout cruisers, Birmingham, Chester and Salem, by merely lengthening their hulls it was found possible to save in those three ships a combined total of 17,000 horse power over that required for the original design. Figured at S6O a horse power, this represented an economy of machinery cost amounting to $1,020,000. The model experimental basin is no longer looked upon as an Investment of doubtful value; every first-class naval power has one of these establishments, and like that at Washington most of them lend their aid to the merchant marine as well. Such is the development of private experiments which Dr. William Froude began, so to speak, in his own backyard. All of the successful ships of today are Indebted to his pioneer work.

gan to figure out how the income of the road could be increased. About the same time the directors —of. a film company , were looking, around to find a railroad that would be willing to stage “wrecks” and other thrills which necessitated the smashing up of engines, cars? automobiles and other prop--erty.-- —: —■—— “Strykertold the directors of the film company that hecould supply their wants. He’explained that his road was ideally situated to stage such horrors, as there were plenty of curves-in the roadbed and enough high embankments and steep mountain sides to furnish the proper scenic background. Likewise, he could readily furnish the cars and engines and, what was equally necessary, the engine drivers and trainmen with the intelligence and technical skill to handle just such work. Mr. Stryker received a commission to stage a wreck, and ever since the Wharton and Northern road has engaged in the peculiar business of producing wrecks and smash-ups to order. The staging of a collision or accident is a big undertaking, and it requires some time-to arrange all the details. The director of the film company first goes over the road until he finds the point at which the background, scenery and other physical features conform to his idea of the proper setting of the scenario. This may call for a high embankment or a trestle, or it may be necessary to have .a" river below, so when the cars jump the track they will pile up on end in the stream, or it may be that a smash-up in w : hich the cars roll down an embankment and catch fire is wanted. After the director of the film company decides what kind of a smash-up he wants and where he wants it to take place, Mr. Stryker sets about to procure the engine, “cars and other accessories. On one occasion the director of one film company desired to picture a forest fire in a section of the country traversed by a railroad, in order to show a rescue scene in which people residing lu the burning area would be saved by the quick Action and heroism of a train crew. Along the right of way of the Wharton and Northern was a strip of country about half a mile in length and extending back about a quarter of a mile from each side’-of the track. It was covered by a considerable growth of underbrush, scrub trees and other inflammable material which for a long time had been a menace not only to property belonging to the railroad but to the surrounding timber lands and dwellings. /fter the property owners had given their permission and a fire patrol to guard against a spread of the fire had been the film company placed its cameras, and got the desired picture of a train rushing through a forest fire, making the rescues.—New York Herald. A Baltimore man has acted as best man at the weddings of forty of his friends and yet escaped matrimony himself. ; ; ■ ■ ......

MING TODAY'S BOYS AND GIRLS

interest Versus Discipline as Mo-

tive for Effort. 7 v • ■ NEW PHASES OF OLD PROBLEM .I . V In Order to Get a Task Well Dona It Is Not Necessary to Make All Drudgery for the Child—• Appeal to His Interest. By SIDONIE M. GRUENBEJFTC. AS HE was about to leave for a summer in the country his teacher in'formed eight-year-old Leonard that he had been promoted, and told him that he would not have to study during his vacation. Leonard was happy and so was his mother, for she did dread the thought of having a child “make up” school work when he should' be playing. Bus toward the end of the vacation there'was an occasion for writing a was to have a birthday—and Leonard exhausted his ingenuity and his mothdFs patiefice finding excuses and delays. - When he did at last sit dowrf to write the letter the mother was both chagrined and worried. The child squirmed about in his seat," showing great' discomfort. He made many false motions, omitted letters from common words (he was an unusually good speller) and omitted strokes for many letters. The mother was ashamed to send off the letter; and she was afraid that the boy would be demoted afWr to school. She therefore resolved to use the remaining days of the vacation for retrieving the lost art, and planned a daily exercise in writing. There was resolution, so the plan was carried out —but it was a torture to both mother and child. This lasted for several days, and the progress made was far from encouraging. But one afternoon Leonard and some of playing “auction” on the porch, having witnessed a real auction of household effects a day or two earlier. Leonard was the clerk, and made a record of all the sales, writing the names of the purchasers, the articles and the prices. When the mother saw the list she found it hard to realize ben made by the same child that suffered such agonies over his writing. The work was neat, the names were all spelled correctly, and there was no sign of effort or discomfort. This observation made the mother suspect that this child could be led faster than he could be driven, and she looked about for “motives” to make writing interesting. She got him to write out items when she sent him on an errand, she asked him to help

Could Be Led Faster Than He Could Be Driven.

her record purchases at the store, and when it caine time to pack up for returning to the city she had him list the drugs and toys and clothes that were to be left in the country. In all of this writing there was marked improvement, there was no irritation, and there was considerable practice making for fluency. The incident emphasizes the conflict raging among psychologists and educators, between those whft espouse the principle of “discipline” and those who advocate the idea of “interest.” So many of us have a feeling that there is danger in sugar-coating the hitter pills which a child must swallow. This is akinto the feeling that what we naturally like to do. or what comes easy, must be something wrong, and that there is inherent virtue in doing what is difficult. It is obvious that a child should learn to do the hard, disagreeable task, just because it has to be done. In later life we niust do many things that are not in ten ■sting, we must., dothem because" cSrcumstances compel the doing- - Should not the child therefore be trained to meet difficulties as a matter of course? - In order to get a task well done it need not all be drudgery. If there is interest at the start, and satisfaction of some kind at the finish, the child will learn soon enough to put up with ii great deal of effort and drudgery in overcoming obstacles. Whether it is learning to sew, of making a wagon, the: child will make the most rapid progress and produce the best results in proportion as there is motive that appeals io the taste or ambition or desires of the child. In other words, the work will be effective according to the interest that the child can maiptain during its progress. 5 ‘ We all realize the value oLconcentration and application on the part of the child. The real issue seems to be this: Should application and effort be obtained through fear, or compulsion, or should they be obtained

through simulation of a real concern of the child for the results of the task, or an Interest in the process? Those who fear training a child through appeal* to the interest are very much like people who think it is necessary for a child to have measles and other “children’s diseases” in order .to attain a state of health. It is true tjiat surviving measles and smallpox will make one immune to these diseases. But it Is hardly wise to expose every child to these diseases for that reason. In the til>t place. im< munity is not necessary, where we can make sure of preventing infection. But resistance T6 r disease may be obtained -more pleasantly and just aS effectively by proper core for the nutrition and breathing ami. cleanliness of the body. The same principleswould seem to apply to the normal health of the child. There is no doubt that many a child is "spoiled” by being, pampered. We make a game, o&dressing or of eating, or of putting things in order, or of writing. There is the danger that when the child is older he will fall to do these tilings, because the dependence upon the game is too strong. This means that we 1 may legitimately use the game as a motive for the

His Dependence Upon the Game Is Too Strong.

child’s activity until he has acquired a new skill, but that after the skill is acquired we must supply a new motive for applying it. Under the “discipline” system the corresponding danger is that after the child has learned to do something—under compulsion- — he will evade the doing whenever the pressure is relieved. Whichever system is followed, it is necessary at last to find internal motives for conduct, and this does not appear To be more difficult where the interest is made to play its part. On the other hand, where the child’s interests bear their share of the burden of training, we avoid a certain hardiness or sourness and we strengthen the bonds of sympathy between our children and ourselves.

WHERE THE LABORER IS KING

Already In Australia Building Trades Have a Working Week of Forty-Four Hours. - The day laborer, as opposed to the employer and to other workers, Is king in Australia. The unions, through ttje labor party, practically control the executive, legislative and judicial machinery .of the cities, the states and the CommohWeaTFh. ' Forty-eight hours is the recognized maximum for a week’s, work; but in occupations 44; 42. 4ft and even.. 36 hours are considered foil TiThe. the National Geographic Magazine observes. Some of the larger building trades have a 44-hour week, and it is probable that this figure will become the recognized standard of all labor. Of the “four sacred rights” is the original slogan, “Eight hours’ work, eight hours’ play, eight hours’ rest and eight bob a day,” only the portion relating to rest has been retained. It is interesting to note the definition of a living wage as formulated by the court of industrial arbitration of New South Wales in 1914: “The living wage is standardized as the wage which will do neither more nor less than enable a worker of the class to which the lowest wage awarded to maintain himself, his wife and two children —the a verage dependent family—in a house of three rooms and a kitchen, with food, plain and inexpensive, but quite sufficient in quantity and quality to maintain heftlth’hnd efficiency, and with art ,l -fertbwafl<?e l for the following other expenses Fuel/ clothes, furniture, utensils, rates, life insurance, savings, accident or benefit societies, loss of employment, union" pay., books and newspapers, train and train fares, sewing machine, mangle,- school requisites, amusements and holiday intoxicating liquors, tobacco, sickness and death, domestic help, unusual contingencies, religion or charity/

Safeguarding Watchman.

After completingjts factory an Alameda firm hired a nightwatchman. Soon, however, the manager formed Ms own suspicions that he was doing more sleeping than watching at night. So he put in a couple of time clocks, one at each end of the building, to be punched by the watchman every halfhour. “What’s these here clocks for?” demanded the watchman when he found them installed when he came to work. “What sense is there in fusin' around and punchin’ these htggL' things i" “It Is a measure of humanity,” explained the manager suavely. “We don’t want you to be burned up if the building should catch fire while you were asleep." •