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Chapter 7 -
The Measured Mile -
From There Go the Ships
by George Shirley
Page 95 -
96
The Measured Mile, or Trial Necessary
Little children, as soon as they can run about,
catch hold of everything they see, and the mother carefully moves
them out of the way, to prevent them hurting themselves or breaking
the things. But there comes a time when they are grown a little
bigger, that things are not moved out of their way, and mother,
holding up her finger, says, "You must not touch." The
child wonders, "Why not? I always
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did." The mother again says
you must not touch," and this is a trial to the child. "Shall
I touch and disobey my mother; or shall I obey?" But we don't
know what we are until we are tried.
There is in the rifle factory al Birmingham what is called the
"proof room." All the rifle barrels are tested here,
"tried." They are loaded with heavy charge, of powder
and fired, then allowed to stand some time; then they are all
examined to see if they are sound, if not, they are thrown aside
as useless, and the others are passed as proved.
At Spithead there is what is called the "Measured Mile."
A buoy is moored at each end, and when the ship is ready for trial
she is brought out to the spot with the
steam up, having on board the builder, the engineer, and all others
interested in the ship, with the representatives of the government
for whom she has been built. She waits some time a distance from
the mile, until all is ready. Then she starts so as to get tip
the speed by the time she gets to the first buoy. Then the chronometers
are noted as to the time, and revolutions of the engines counted,
the hearings watched-are they cool or hot? Is the motion easy?
When the end of the mile is reached, the time by the chronometers
noted, the speed ascertained, the faults detected, and alterations
suggested for her improvement, she is taken hack to the dockyard
and the alterations completed, and tried again.
Now we can see the necessity of this trial, for it sometimes shows
a flaw brought into sight by the strain. Perhaps the boiler is
not strong enough. Had it not been for the trial it could not
have been seen. It was the testing that brought it out.
Now suppose the ship had been sent, to sea with all her valuable
stores on board, and the still more valuable lives of her crew
and officers, numbering three or four hundred, and the steering
gear or t he machinery failed in a gale in the Bay of Biscay,
and all been lost, - the ship sinking and the crew drowned. There
would have been a general cry of indignation throughout the land
on the folly of sending a ship to sea untried. Trial is quite
necessary, for many things look well, but when tried found worthless.
Many persons seem all right until we have dealings with them,
and then, to our
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© Peter Smith 2009
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