The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

vi PREFACE from their Proceedings ; to such technical journals as The Engineer, Engineering, Gassiers Engineering Monthly, The Iron and Goal Trades Review, and also to other sources and authorities (acknowledged where they occur in the book) which I have found it most beneficial to consult. I am grateful for the kind and ready permission given to make use of information derived from these sources, and should I have inadvertently omitted to acknowledge any source from which informa- tion has been obtained, I apologise. It should be pointed out that the importance of the subject matter of this volume increases daily, as technical progress is and has been increasing by leaps and bounds in the last decade. There is no factory now that can afford to do without machinery for handling and storing its raw materials and finished products if it is to be a commercial success. The national economy of the civilised world cannot do without the mechanical handling and storing of material, and in conclusion, the toll claimed from the ranks of labour by the European War and the consequent shortage of hands, will force even those who are slowest to adopt modern means to replace the man by the machine wherever possible. Let this be my excuse, if such be deemed necessary, for venturing again before the technical world. G. F. Z. 82, Mark Lane, London, E.C., January 1916.