EDITORIAL
I N December, 1940, appeared the first issue of
Cumann na nlnnealtoiri was founded in 1928.
The present Membership is 679.
Entrance Fee, One Guinea.
Annual Subscription One Guinea.
For those joining after I st of July the Annual
Subscription is a half Guinea.
Council Meetings are normally held once a
fortnight at the Cumann's Offices.
Secretaries,
I /3 Westmoreland Street,
Dublin.
�::- .
viii
"The Engineers' Journal." It was intended as a
medium for explaining the aims and recording the
progress of Cumann na n-lnnealtoiri, and as a vehicle
for the views, aspirations and complaints of the
engineers of Ireland. Unfortunately, owing to
emergency restrictions on paper, its second issue '
published a year later, was its last.
With an improvement in paper supplies, it has
been found possible to make a fresh start, and this
is the first issue of the journal as a quarterly publica­
tion. As a gesture to those who first envisaged
such a journal and to underline the continuance of
their aims, this issue is numbered three in the
series.
It is hoped that the magazine will prove of interest
to all engineers in Ireland. One thing can make it
so, and that is the co-operation of Members of
the profession in supplying articles. These need
not be especially technical, in fact highly technical
articles would be out of place in the publication as
we see it. What is required are informal, stimulating
or informative articles on social or broadly technical
topics averaging six or seven hundred words.
The Editor would also be glad to receive photo­
graphs of interest to Engineers, smal I paragraphs,
short and preferably controversial letters and social
notes on the activities and achievements of our
coileagues. Any suggestions as to features, lay-out
or format will be welcomed and will receive careful
consideration. The size of the present issue, for
example, designed to fit the pocket, was thought
most suitable, but there may be different opinions
on this and possibly a larger size may be generally
considered preferable.

It is Intended to send the journal free to all
engineers in Ireland, irrespective of whether they are
members of the Association or not. The Editor would
be glad to receive the names and addresses of any
engineers who have not received a copy of this issue
in order that they may be included in the mailing list.
--o--
On the 25th September, 1945, we sent out to
our members, to County Surveyors, County Mana­
gers and Consulting Engineers the " Schedule of
Minimum Salaries." Now that nine months have
passed we wish to recapitulate the reasons that led
to its preparation and review what success we have
had in implementing it.
It had long been considered that in view of the
great disparity in salaries between engineers carrying
out somewhat similar duties, in posts for which nearly
identical qualifications were required, that some
standard should be adopted to which engineers
paid at lower rates could justifiably aspire. It was
-considered initially essential that a standard be
agreed upon for engineers of up to a few years'
,experience as such engineers were, and are, generally
·receiving salaries not only lower than would be
considered desirable from the point of view of
prestige in the profession but also below a reasonable
or just rate. Cases had been examined in which
the engineer's salary was considerably less then
those being paid to tradesmen under his direction.
_f�r the underpaid engineer to co-operate in a
:movement to improve his lot it was necessary that
:some achievable minimum rate should be fixed for
.him to aim at.
Rates, therefore, were arrived at which, though
:still lower than the importance of the engineers'
-work would warrant, were such as would enable a
,single man to live ; rates, moreover, which no
,employer could consider unjust to himself.
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It was a fairly simple matter to prepare the
schedule ; the difficuhy has been in putting it
into effect. The weapons at our disposal have
not been the best. We have two. One is an
attempt to persuade prospective applicants for posts
advertised at rates lower than the schedule rate
applicable to the post, to refrain from applying ; or
better, to apply but with the proviso that the position
would be accepted only at the schedule rate. It
has proved difficult in most cases to get complete
co-operation in this. Unfortunately, for many
positions advertised at non-schedule rates there
were applicants whose existing salaries were even
lower. In such cases we had members, loyal to the
aims of their association, standing aside while non­
members or "fair-weather" members accepted
the posts. It is agreed that it is hard for a man, by
his own action, to put himself out of the running
for a position in which the actual work or experi­
ence might be to his liking or where the salary,
though below schedule, was still somewhat better
than he was receiving in his present post ; and
several of our members who have so done, have
since felt aggrieved at their being martyrs without
apparently helping the situation generally. This
is quite understandable, but the point at issue is
nevertheless quite clear. Either we make a stand
as best we can in the hopes that such a stand will
win an increased membership and that eventually
members and non-members alike will eventually
see the necessity for it and co-operate fully in black­
listing a post at a non-schedule salary, or we throw
overboard the schedule and let salaries be subject
to cut-price tactics with consequent diminished
salaries all round. It should be quite clear that
with complete co-operation a period of not more
than six months would be sufficient to make the
schedule the normal Minimum standard.
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 Few Irishmen, be they Engineers or otherwise,
start their professional training with the intention
of leaving their native country, yet to-day we see
,. the best of our Engineering Graduates leaving the
country to get whatever type of training and experi­
ence they can. This is not altogether to be lamented
as most of these young men, finding the ties of
nationalism stronger than the lure of higher salaries,
return to their native country bringing with them
the experience and knowledge gained. Unfortu­
nately, this experience is often of a specialfsed
nature for which there is no direct use in this
country. How much more satisfactory it would be
for the country and the Engineer if these young
men were sent abroad to get experience on one of
our Irish Industries, e.g., peat, sugar, glass, water
power, cement, agriculture, machinery, transport,
and fertilizers, and to bring back the experience
essential to our young industries if they are to
compete on an equal footing with foreign manu­
factures.
The training which an Engineering graduate
receives during his university training should be
on a broad scientific basis. The course of training
should concentrate on fundamental principles and
aim at producing scientifically trained minds rather
than on the accumulation of technological matter
which results from formal technical instruction.
If employers demand from the University Engl­
QF,e.ring Schools men capable of und�rtaking technical
responsibility immediately after graduation without
first giving them the facilities for postgraduate­
training, then it is the employer and not the young
graduate or the Engineering School that is at fault.
The widespread acceptance of Post Graduate
apprenticeship courses in all industrial countries Is
8 9
definite proof that modern leaders of industry
agree with the desirable· aims of University Engi­
neering Schools.
The capacity for exercising responsibility Is only
developed by the practice of responsibility. He
who finds it difficult to find in his own organisation
men with this gift should ask himself whether he
has provided the necessary opportunity for his
young Engineers to develop that capacity.
Those to whom the provision of future staff is
a proper concern, know full well that in order to
develop the capacity for responsibility, men must
be given the opportunity of trying out their own
power, unassisted, even if providing such oppor­
tunities results in something being done less well
than it would have been if in the hands of more
experienced people.
It is gratifying to see that at least one of our
Industries has embarked in this admirable form of
Engineering training "The Trainees Scheme." But
what of our other Industries ?
0
The Annual Dinner will be held in the Hibernian
Hotel, Dublin, on Tuesday, 5th November, 1946.
The Dinner is perhaps the most important social
event of the Cu mann's year and it is hoped that
with petrol restrictions somewhat eased, a large
number will be present.
 Meccano (in the T.D.B.), poking coal (for the E.S.B.) Carrier Telephony
or potting pips in the P.O., photography remains

.. your very humble and very useful servant.

In conclusion, may we suggest that as the civil

By H. N. WROE, B.Sc., Ph. D.

engineer is best known for coming home with dirty The intrinsic modus operandi of any form of modem
boots, the mechanical for being "terribly hard on telephony is the use of electric currents to re­
his clothes," and the electrical for " fixing the iron," produce speech sounds at a distance. Essentially
that even in the field of propaganda the engineer the subscribers' telephone instrument consists­
may well call photography to his aid. neglecting signalling arrangements-of a trans­
mitter and a receiver, the former acting as a
B. M. M. generator of alternating currents which vary in
unison with the sounds producing them, and the
---0 --- latter as a converter for carrying out the reverse
process. The frequencies of these currents vary,
roughly, with the pitch of the voice and, for com­
Readers are asked to submit for publication in mercial purposes, are generally regarded as lying in
the Journal, material on the lines indicated in the the range of 300-2,600 cycles per second, which is
Editorial. termed the " voice-frequency " band.
Contributions accepted, other than letters to
the Editor, will be paid for at a rate of four shillings In ordinary or non-carrier telephony the trunk
per hundred words. lines between exchanges each consists of a pair of
insulated metallic wires which may be called "voice­
frequency physical lines " since they convey none
They should be addressed to :­
but voice-frequency currents. Clearly under these
The Editor, conditions each of a number of simultaneous con­
"Engineers' Journal," versations requires its own individual trunk line.
Cumann na nlnnealtoiri,
As the use of the telephone developed a point
I /3 Westmoreland Street,
was reached at which, unless several distinct
-.....� · Dublin. simultaneous conversations were possible on a
single physical line, the provision of additional
--- 0 ---
trunks meant the wholesale construction of new
open wire and cable routes, a very involved and
A Prize of Two Guineas is offered for a suitable costly undertaking. A solution to the problem
Design for the Cover of the Journal. Entries should was found by taking a leaf out of the book of radio
reach the Editor on or before Monday, 16th technique.
December, 1946.
14 15
 25th June, 1946.
The Annual Golf Competition was held at Royal
Dublin Golf Club. The Cumann Perpetual Challenge
,. Cup was won by Mr. W. O'Neill, B.E., and the
Engineers' Prize by Mr. P. J. Tierney, B.Sc. The
other prize winners were Mr. B. J. Faherty, B.E.
and Comdt. K. Cassidy, B.E. An enjoyable supper
was held in the Club-house and the prizes were
presented by the President (Dr. T. A. McLaughlin,
B.E.).
18th July, 1946.
A visit, organised by the Central Council with
the kind permission of Aer Lingus, Teoranta, was
paid to the Dublin Airport, Collinstown. Those
taking part spent an interesting afternoon,
inspecting the airport and buildings and the new
concrete runways at present under construction.
I 0th August, 1946.
A visit was made to the Liffey Hydro-electric
Plant by kind permission of the Electricity Supply
Board.
The party of 30, which included several ladies, was
met at the entrance by Mr. Pelly, the District
Engineer, and Mr. Logan, the Assistant District
Engineer. The party was split into three sections
�d was shown over the plant by Mr. J. Pelly, Mr.
J. Logan and Mr. P. J. Tierney.
A start was made at the Dam and the intake
building and thence to the Power Station below the
Falls. The second 15 M/W Set was in the process
of installation and a very interesting tour resulted.
24
The I OkV Section, also in the process of com­
pletion, and the 110 kV Outdoor Station were also
visited.
The party then proceeded to the Golden Falls
Power Station at Ballymore Eustace about two
miles from Poulaphouca. This station is completed
and has an output of 4.5.M/W and utilises the water
which passes through the larger station at Poula­
phouca. At Golden Falls, Messrs. Pelly and Logan
explained the working in detail.
The party then returned to the Road House at
Poulaphouca where tea was taken. It was hoped
to do a tour around the lakes but time did not
permit. The outing was a great success but it was
hoped that a greater number would have taken
part.
30th August, 1946.
Members of the Cumann were shown over the
Lullymore Bricquette Factory where they inspected
milled-peat-winning machinery and the processes
of bricquette production. Bad weather and shortage
of petrol restricted the numbers able to avail of
the courtesy extended by Bord na Mona, and it is
hoped that another visit may be possible in the
coming year for those who were unable to attend.
---0 ---
The Dinner and Dance were very well supported,
the attendance in each case being a record. Attend­
ance, however, at the other events was generally
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