Another cause of safety is undoubtedly
the use of weldless tires. I was fortunate enough to attend the
British Association meeting many years ago at Birmingham, and I then
read a paper upon weldless tires, in which I ventured to prophesy
that, in ten years' time, there would not be a welded tire made; that
is one of the few prophecies that, being made before the event, have
been fulfilled. I may perhaps be permitted to mention, that at the
same time I laid before the section plans and suggestions for the
making of the cylindrical parts of boilers equally without seam, or
even welding. This is rarely done at the present time, but I am sure
that, in twenty years' time, such a thing as a longitudinal seam of
rivets in a boiler will be unknown. There is no reason why the
successive rings of boiler shells should not be made weldless, as
tires are now made weldless.
MOTORS.
The next subject I intend to deal with is that of motors. In 1831, we
had the steam-engine, the water-wheel, the windmill, horse-power,
manual power, and Stirling's hot air engines. Gas engines, indeed,
were proposed in 1824, but were not brought to the really practical
stage. We had then tide mills; indeed, we have had them until quite
lately, and it may be that some still exist; they were sources of
economy in our fuel, and their abandonment is to me a matter of
regret.
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