 |
 |
The quotations for next week (May 20-26) reflect RK's interest in things mechanical: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 1. '…The turbines whistle reflectively. From the low-arched expansion-tanks on either side, the valves descend pillar-wise to the turbine-chests, and thence the obedient gas whirls through the spirals of blades with a force that would whip the teeth out of a power saw. Behind, is its own pressure held in leash, or spurred on by the lift-shunts…' 2. ' ..The forward engine had no more work to do. Its released piston-rod, therefore, drove up fiercely, with nothing to check it, and started most of the nuts of the cylinder-cover. It came down again, the full weight of the steam behind it, and the foot of the disconnected connecting rod, as useless as the leg of a man with a sprained ankle, flung out to the right and struck the starboard, or right-hand, cast-iron supporting column of the forward engine, cracking it clean through…' 3. '..All three cylinders were white with the salt spray that had come down through the engine-room hatch; there was white fur on the canvas-bound steam-pipes, and even the bright-work deep below was speckled and soiled; but the cylinders had learned to make the most of steam that was half water, and were pounding along cheerfully…' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- The sources of this week's quotations - as several people have pointed out - are: 1. 'The House Surgeon' in 'Actions and Reactions' 2. 'The Lost Legion' in 'Many Inventions' 3. The chapter on 'Working-Tools' in 'Something of Myself'. Good wishes to all, John R %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%