Cooper Union College - Cable Yearbook (New York, NY)

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comTorT, speed, economical operaTion, and beauTy and suiTabiliTy OT line and color boTh in exTerior and inTerior TreaTmenT, wiTh consTanT emphasis on saTeTy. IT is inTeresTing To noTe ThaT despiTe The Trend Toward elecTriTied power, The sTeam locomoTive is noT losing iTs place as an imporTanT moTive power on The railways. The improvemenTs ThaT have been made in sTeam locomoTives are as ouTsTanding as Those in oTher direcTions and The perTormance oT The laTesT Types iusTiTies The opinion ThaT They are sTill secure in The maior Tield oT railway operaTion. ExcerpTs Trom currenT adverTising oT railroad companies show ThaT even The mosT scienTiTic improvemenTs are oT inTeresT To The layman. The public reads in one: The exTerior is painTed a golden brown, Top and boTTom, wiTh sides and rounded nose oT canary yellow-a color selecTed because iT can easily be seen aT greaT disTances. The low cenTer OT graviTy, The elevaTed cab wiTh iTs dual conTrols, The dual Tog-peneTraTing headlighTs, The increased visibiliTy oT The exTerior color: a braking sysTem, especially designed To insure uTmosT saTeTy aT high speeds, are ouTsTand- ing TeaTures oT The Train. The course oT railroad hisTory as aTTecTed by The work oT The me- chanical engineer is similar in imporT To advancemenT in oTher Tields oT Travel and TransporTaTion. The use oT The auTomobile is Today wiThin reach and oTTen a necessiTy Tor The ouT-oT-The-way Tarmer, The small Town business man. Such widespread use oT This conveyance presenTed The problem To The engineer oT reducing cosT while improving cars as To speed, compacTness, eTc. The accomplishmenfs in This Tield are easily recognizable on any ciTy sTreeT or counTry road. The inTeresTUshown in The annual models oT auTomobiles is suTTicienT TesTimony To The guick awakening oT The public To The beauTy in a modern machine. The new sTandards reiecT all design Tor decoraTion's sake. They rely enTirely on The careTul sTudy oT The sTricTly useTul elemenTs oT The design, Tusing Them, so To speak, inTo a whole wiThouT any unnecessary TeaTures. The engineer has shown his arTisTic hand, as iT were, in sTreamlining. STreamlining is a Tashion, iT is True, buf iT is based on uTiliTy. There is no doubT ThaT The sTyle appeals To The public, Tor iT expresses The prevalenT vogue Tor speed. The guesT Tor speed creaTes The urge To eliminaTe all possible wind resisTance. This aTTords The scienTiTic basis Tor The sTyle and accounTs Tor The appearance oT The sTreamline eTTecTs in The new models oT auTomobiles, concurrenTly wiTh The greaT increase in Their capaciTy Tor speed. lvlan, long ago, proved his unwillingness To keep his TeeT on The ground no maTTer whaT The speed. ThoughTs oT air-Travel are Tound in wriTings many cenTuries back. Today air-Travel is noT merely an idea: iT

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is an esTablished realiTy. lT is an everyday occurrence Tor a man To leave his oTTice in New York CiTy aTTer lunch and meeT an associaTe Tor dinner in Chicago. Times Square To The Loop in Tive and Three-quarTer hoursl WiTh The aeroplane in consTanT use Tor business and pleasure Travel, The engineer has Tound iT necessary To look To more Than The basic consTrucTion oT The plane. lT has been his problem To work on deTails which bring This means oT conveyance wiThin The scope oT The ordinary raTher Than The unusual mode oT TraTTic. QuesTions oT speed, oT saTe landings, oT size, have 'required comprehensive sTudy. NOT very many years ago, an air TlighT was considered an adven- Ture, a daring TeaT. Today, an air-minded public is Tamiliar wiTh such Terms as wing Tlaps, balancing Tabs, wheel cuTTs, assisT loops. RecenTly manuTacTured planes oTTer noTable perTecTion in design and consTrucTion Trom The sTandpoinT oT uTiliTy and beauTy aT prices which are relaTively very low. Today we can Truly believe iT is easy To Tly. This generaTion owes a debT oT graTiTude To The mechanical engineer. l-le has given iT Ten league booTs, he has helped iT To soar To The clouds. We Think oT him as a scienTiTic, pracTical Tigure. l-le is also a romanTic one. l-lis work requires ToresighT, vision, selT-sacriTice. l-le musT be willing and able To see The TuTure. Modern engineering has given new values To Time and space. Dis- Tances have been shorTened, Time has been increased Tor us. ExecuTives oT business organizaTions can visiT branches Trom C5oTham To The Golden GaTe wiThin a week. Lives are daily saved because special serums or oTher medicinal services can be broughT To ouT oT The way places aT incredible speed. The engineer has ouTwiTTed even The weaTher man. ln The middle oT a swelTering AugusT day in a hoT ciTy, iT is unnecessary To Travel many miles Tor cooling relieT. EnTrance inTo almosT any TheaTer provides a mild, cool TemperaTure made possible by The mechanical engineer's work in air-cooling and air-condiTioning. WiTh such provision Tor our speed and saTeTy oT Travel and Trans- porTaTion, Tor our comTorT, Tor our pleasure, iT would seem as if The mechanical engineer could siT back, crowned wiTh a laurel wreaTh, To view his wonderTul work wiTh pride. 3uT even iT we are saTisTied, he is noT. The clouds are noT high enough Tor him. l-le will go TurTher. We have read oT occasional aTTempTs aT sTraTospheric TlighTs. This is The problem The mechanical engineer has underTaken. l-le will solve iT. l-le has made slow, Tedious Travel a Thing oT The pasT, he will make sTraTo-- spheric invesTigaTion a possibiliTy Tor The TuTure. l-le has vision. l.eT us have TaiTh in his vision.