JOURNAL OF THE

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE OF T I l E s T A T E OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A ,

FOR T H E PROMOTION OF THE MECHANIC ARTS.

VOL. C X L I X , No. I. 75Tll Y E A R . J A N U A R Y , I9oo

° TIlE I r a n k l m I n s t i t u t e is no t r e spons ib l e for t h e s ta te-

m e n t s and o p i n i o n s a d v a n c e d b y c o n t r i b u t o r s to the Journal.

Mechanical and Engineering Section.

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

BY \VII, FRED LEWIS, President of tile Section.

[Commemorative Meeting held in Convention Hall, National Export Exposi- tion, Thursday, October 5th, on the Occasion of the Celebration of the Sev- enty-fifth Anniversary of the Franklin Institute.]

F o r seven ty- f ive yea r s ti le F r a n k l i n I n s t i t u t e has d e v o t e d i t se l f a s s i d u o u s l y to its we l l -known ob jec t , " t h e p r o m o t i o n of the m e c h a n i c a r t s , " b u t in t he p e r f o r m a n c e of th i s g r e a t work i t has r ea l i zed at va r ious t imes t h e a d v a n t a g e s a r i s ing f rom the c o n c e n t r a t i o n of e f for t a long c e r t a i n l ines w i t h i n its b r o a d and l i be ra l scope.

T h e c o n s t a n t s u b d i v i s i o n of scient i f ic t h o u g h t i n to b r a n c h e s whose b o u n d s are m o r e and m o r e r i g o r o u s l y de- fined is an index of the p r o g r e s s of o u r age, n o t t h a t t h e r e are m o r e d i f f e r en t k inds of sc ience to b e s tud ied , b u t beca use the fields of r e sea rch and i n v e s t i g a t i o n h a v e s o VOL. CXLIX. NO. 889 .

2 Le~uis : [ ] . ~'. I.,

expanded that the h u m a n mind is overwhelnled t)y the vast- n e s s o f t i l e whole, and individuals m u s t b e content to mas- ter thoroughly o n e small corner o f a genera] division.

The Chemical, the Electrical and the Mining and Metal- lurgical Sections were consequent ly formed to meet the demand for more restricted bounds within which the spe- c ia l i s t s in these depar tments could carry on their work.

These sections are firmly established and their valuable services have been appropriately commemorated here to the honor of the Franklin ins t i tu te . They have records upon which they can look back with pride, and futures full of promise, but the work of the Mechanical and Engineer ing Section, which I have the honor to represent this evening', h~t.s oI~]y jus t begun.

About a year ago, it was suggested that a section of the Ins t i tu te be organized which would appeal directly to the artisans, mechanicians, draughtsmen, designers and engin- eers, who form so large and impor tant a part of our popu- lation. It was not intended to encroaeh upon the fields now occupied by ti~e national and local engineer ing societies, whose members are for the most part engineers in active practice, but to form a society more democrat ic in its scope, which would welcome all who are in te les ted in me- chanical pursui ts , regardless of their skill or a t t a inments . Skilled and unskil led mechanics, novices and past masters in engineer ing were to have a common meet ing ground, where a]l m i g h t tie heaI"d, and it was hoped thfit in the meet ing of earnest workers thus brought together , the- orists wouId learn much to their advantage from the more practical men of action and manual skill, while the latter would be equal ly benefited by a deeper ins ight into the methods and principles of engineering.

The proposit ion t o organize a section devoted in. this way to the in teres ts of the various mechanical pursu i t s at once met wi th f~tvor, and the Board of Managers, at its s ta ted mee t ing of November 9th, x898 , authorized the format ion of a Mechanical and Lngmeer ing Section. The inaugu- ral meet ing of the section thus authorized was held De- cember i s th , tinder the leadership of Mr. James Christie,

Jan., :9o:>. i [zfro(tltctory AgL/Ycss. 3

Chai:r:nan of the Commit tee on Sectional Ar rangemen t s , and Chief E n g i n e e r of the Peneoyd Iron Works , which has so recen t ly as tonished the world by its successful competi- tion with F.ngland for the cons t ruc t ion of the Atba ra Br idge in tBgypt. Under his gu idance the section sprang at once into act ive life and work, and there are now enrolled upon its l ist of m e m b e r s :88 act ive men, as the nucleus of an (~rganization which cannot fail to be a power for g o o d in this and o the rcon :n :un i t i e s .

A l t h o u g h not at once a large society, our numbers are , nevertheless , encou rag ing as a par t of the Inst i tu te , embrac- ing as it does only e,ooo members , f rom which we mus t draw recrui ts , and we conf ident ly hope to g row as the ad- van tages of mem'bership become more genera l ly known.

To become a m e m b e r of any section, one mus t be a rnen:ber of the Ins t i tu te , in good standing, and to be s u c h a n :ember it is only necessary to pay the small annual dues,, in re tu rn for which such abundan t r e tu rns :nay be enjoyed'.

But it is my purpose to deal more p:~rtienlarly with the work of the sect ion to which this even ing is devoted, and to lay before you our special claims to considerat ion. Every indust r ia l e s t ab l i shmen t in the city should be inter- ested in our success, and our : : :embers would be counted by thousands and tens of thousands if the vast a rmy of work- ers could be made to realize the helpfulness of mutua l edu- cation by actual contac t with fellow-workers in the same field of interest .

A t the i na ugu r a l meeting, a code of rules was adopted, s imilar to those in force in the o ther sections. T h e select ion of sub jec t s for discussion was placed in the hands of a commit tee on informat ion, who decided to devote the first s tated mee t ing to Personal Remin i scences of Changes in Machine I)esign and Shop Practice. q~his proved to be an almost inexhaus t ib le subject , and much in t e res t ing and en- te r ta in ing in fo rmat ion was elicited, some of the member s going b a c k tifty years, to the t ime when rai lroads and s t eamboa t s were in their first s tages of deve lopment . Since then we have taken up the fol lowing subjects , the discus- sions of which have been repor ted in thefour,tal.: " T r a v e l -

4 Le'zvis. [J. F. I.,

lin K Cranes," " T h e Mechanical Applications of Compressed Air,' . . . . Phe Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Pumping Machinery," and " Hydraulic Transmiss ion , Valves and Packing."

In addit ion to the regular meetings, at whieil the above subjects were considered, a special meet ing was called in February, to hear an address by Prof, \Vm. S. Aldrich, on the U. S. Repai r Ship " Vulcan," which played so impor t an t a par t in the recent war with Spain. Prof, Aldrich was the Engineer-in.Charge on this remarkable vessel, and his lec- ture, amply i l lustrated by lantern slides, was full of interest .

The inest imable value of facilities for repairs at sea was dea r ly demonst ra ted , and in this was seen the immense la tent s t rength of American f o r e t h o u g h t ' a n d mechanical genius. All honor to the men behind the guns, but they are powerless unless behind them stand the mechanics and the engineers who furnish the muni t ions of war with which swift and terrible execution can be accomplished. W e have shown to the world our undaunted valor, energy and power to destroy, and we are now showing in a greater de- gree our power to build. Construction, rather than destruc- tion, is the gauge of our real s trength, and to none does the nat ion owe its supremacy more than to its mechanics whom the Frankl in Ins t i tu te has fostered and encouraged for sev- enty.five years.

But it is not for me to speak of the history of this noble inst i tut ion, which has been aptly styled a "democra t i c 1earned society," and it would be presumptuous to make such an a t t empt in the presence of one who has been so long identified wi th its ach ievements - -an engineer of inter- nat ional reputat ion, who has honored the Ins t i tu te by his devoted service, and who has been honored in return b y t h e h ighes t office it could b e s t o w ~ o n e who has labored for the en l igh tenmen t and prosperity of mankind like a true dis- eiple of the immor ta l Franklin, and whose latest work has put Niagara in chains to serve our needs with the vast power tha t would otherwise be squandered. It is hard ly necessary for me to introduce Dr. Coleman Sellers, who will now address you on " T h e Progress of the Mechanical Arfs in three-quarters of a Century."