Excerpt from Engineering Practice and Theory, for Steam Engineers The adoption of compound, triple and quadruple expansion engines, necessitating the use of high steam pressures for their economical operation, the rapid increase in the number of high speed, direct connected engines, and the many appliances now found in every first-class plant for the saving of fuel, the rapid generation of steam, and for increasing the life of the machinery, have added much to the care and responsibility of the steam engineer, so that in order to be competent for this kind of work means much more at the present time than it did a few years ago. In order to keep abreast of the times it becomes necessary for those who are in charge of steam plants not only to get as much experience as possible themselves, but also to profit by the experience of others, as in this way it is possible for us to steer clear of the pitfalls which have made failures of the lives of others, and have rendered their efforts for advancement of no avail. The study of well written books, treating the subject that interest the steam engineer, is one of the most advisable ways of gaining knowledge, and that this volume may be considered an addition to those works which have proved to be of interest and value is the sincere wish of the Author. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.