A Lamentation Over the Foot-pound System.
Page 11
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(With apologies to William Shakespeare) ("King Henry VI.," 3rd part; 2nd act; 51h scene.) Egad, I guess it were a happy life To sit upon a stool, as I do now To figure out on endless sheets of paper, To calculate and find out point by point How many inches make the gallonfull, How many gallons to a keg of ale, How many farthings make a " tanner " blush, How many grains are in a ton of sand. When that is known, then try this for a while : So many inches to the cubic yard, So many links to make a naval mile, So many scruples to a troy-weight pound, So many pounds per quart of liquid measure, So gallons, bushels, inches, feet and scruples Would give the weeks a pleasant get-away. Ah what life were this How sweet! How scrump tious I Gives not the inch a better subdivision To draughtsmen gazing on their bally sheets, • Than does the much-praised Millimeter, Never known to Queen Elizabeth ?
0 yes ! It does, a. sixteen times it does, And to conclude : a draughtsman's folding rule Divided in sixteenths, a pound of sixteen ounces, Four pecks a bushel, three feet to the yard, All clear and plain and being known for ages
Is far beyond the kilogram, the meter and the liter
And their blasted derivates by ten!
[Contributed by a valued correspondent now resident at Cincinnati, Ohio. He makes no apology for using the American spelling of meter, liter, etc., as he considers it makes better verse,—En. "CM!']
Transporting a French " whippet " tank.
Tanks, both heavy and light, have contributed in no small measure to the successful issue of recent Allied offensive operations.