Show AMERICAN INGENUITY from the electrical review london in the early days of the rand things went pretty much the way of the english manufacturer and direct current dynamos from england tumbled into the country as fast as they could be made but after a little while there came a change changeover over the scene the frankfort exhibition was held dynamos dyna in os and motors were shown in operation over long I 1 distances and the superiority of this system for the transmission of power was demonstrated and then slowly but surely the machine began to get an entrance into the transvaal to the exclusion of the direct current plant and to the benefit of the foreigner but the english k manufacturer made no move he has hardly begun to do so now the result is that the trade has largely gone away from ens land in the first place the germans Gern ians and the swiss bene fitted largely by the new state of things but they were greatly handicapped by the demand for similar machinery at home in the meantime however the americans had been adopting machinery on a large scale and what is more standardizing and making el a special study of it being more ent enterprising er than their continental rivals they sent men to johannesburg and not only opened agencies but even went so far as to form a supply company for certain mines what was the americans are as clannish as the scotch and it became the case of the unclean spirit who found the house and swept garnished a arn american machinery required required americans to understand it the mines engaged them these engineers required americans americans Amer ieans to drive their machinery they were forthcoming new machinery was required specifications ficat ions were drawn up by the american engineers in their own language r and indicating their own type of machinery in english makers could not or would not always new patterns they had made certain bote to all their lives and ali they ahey were patterns change now to the next not goin kito thing wash wa but short step what more n natural american dynamos must have american ame than tha a that ginders to drive them ain american ri can en feed the boilers and to he be driven pump pun ta can motors and so by adlet 1 on ad lib and now rand is full of A merican american the eng engineers inders american ameri practice is de d e figuer and american terms the vernacular specifications ions are already arp are being handed around for machinery which clearly indicate their source and the type of machinery required now where does the english manufacturer stand orders for bachl machinery nery to the value of millions of pounds will be given out in the course of the next year or two not only for mines but for towns which will increase rapidly in size how many of these orders will he be get will he strive to get out of his bis groove will he send out or appoint agents who are conversant with the requirements of new countries or will he continue to try and force them to take the plant he has made for years it is for him to answer and not for us but let it be understood that we do not grudge the americans their success it is due entirely to their enterprise and our lack of it that they are now more or less in a position to dictate as to the origin of the machinery required we only wish to issue a warning 01 in time now that a new state of things is springing up so that the english manufacturer may get his fair share of the plums apart from the question of machinery which he is now beginning to make there are many other directions in which he be is at a disadvantage with the americans take the question of overhead line equipment for instance why is it that we have to buy i so much of this material from the states not only for the transvaal but also for our own requirements at home are our own insulator makers energetic enough another point which applies less to the mines than to the towns is the supply of car bodies and trucks truck for electric tramways tram ways hot countries like africa cars without windows W a require open cars or and with top canopies cano pies are we going to continue to make closed cars only because the englishman is satisfied to travel in the hole of Cal calcutta cutts summer in in a rolling black father rather than force the tramway companies to put on cars with open sides in the hot weather it is not as if the english manufacturer he can ca indeed cannot make these things make them in every respect as we well 11 as the of his work w ork is americans and the solidity generally better but he must r them at a ns his goods rather more so as to offer shor shorter ter time if hev b 1110 lower price and in a SA sow to secure his share in the X growing ot enough 0 african trade there is room to afford there for e everybody very body but we cannot be territories let our colonies and our new co come me the dumping r ground solely for amen filled by machinery or se see e all the goo good d posts filler khelu for americans after we have foug fought ourselves |