Page:The Kinematics of Machinery.djvu/546

 In the great majority of cases the change from the old to the new industry has taken the form of a. This is naturally noticed most of all in connection with those productions which possessed an importance before the time of the steam-engine which they have since retained, and in none more than in. Here the results of the change cannot be said to be in every respect advantageous. The home-worker, the small master, has all but disappeared. This in itself may be in many instances a cause for regret. But with him has also disappeared much of his individual skill. The work in the factory does not call for the possession nor allow of the employment of that personal skill which was required and shown by the old home and hand-worker, and the skill therefore no longer exists, at least in these industries. The breaking up of home life, too, which is involved in the factory-system is a matter having many possible drawbacks; it has already called for public attention more than once, and may do so still more pressingly in the future.

It is in connection with the future of these industries that the construction of small, cheap prime-movers becomes a matter of special importance. The direct-actors are every day being made better and less expensive,—but it is at the same time found that the prime-mover works the more economically the larger it is. For factories, therefore, one huge, expensive but economical engine drives an immense number of small direct-actors, and in this way only can the goods be made cheaply enough for the market. I believe that in many places and circumstances it would be an advantage if the home-industry could be placed in a position to compete with the factory-work. This can only be brought about when it becomes possible for the workman who has a little money at his disposal to buy a small and cheap prime-mover which is at the same time economical, to drive the two or three direct-actors which he may be able to possess. It is in this direction that I look for a future for the gas-engine, which has lately been brought into practical shape, and perhaps also for small hydraulic motors and hot-air engines.

But there are many industries,—the manufacture of engines and machinery for instance,—in which the drawbacks I have mentioned do not appear, or appear in a less distinct form, while in others