Simply described, the rope machine pictures itself as a hollow column cylinder, strongly framed and braced steel from the base of which arms extend, like the lower branches of a spruce tree. At the ends of these the bobbins are rigged, carrying the strands which are to be twisted into rope. These are led from the bobbins in toward the center, and pass into the column, which carries also the core and which in its turning twists the strands together. The complete rope passes out over a pulley on to the spools. Machines for the smaller sizes of rope are strung out in a long file. The larger ones require elbow room; each of those for the making of the largest rope has a room to itself and is installed on a foundation of steel and concrete. [Illustration: HOISTING A HUGE NAVAL GUN WITH WIRE ROPE SLING] When the mechanism is at work it suggests somehow the solar rotations. The bobbins have a triple motion. On the ends of the arms to which they are attached they travel around the column, at a rate of speed which of course is determined by the "lay" required, but they are unwinding as the strand pays out and also turn completely end for end, at predetermined intervals. In the more modern machines there are two sets of arms or "branches" above the first, for the purpose of carrying a greater number of strands. In this type the arms carrying the bobbins are somewhat shorter, allowing for a great rate of speed. There is something mysterious in the sight of these flying reels of steel, or copper maybe, for many ropes of substantial size are made of copper for marine use, whizzing round and round like indefatigable moths around a big steel candle, or a dervish round his own spinal column on a spot of ground the size of a dinner plate, and the rope, hard, shining, round, packed around its core of hemp or steel, noiselessly gathering all this strength and energy into itself for use in the days of need. When you see it on the spool at the side, shining with its coating of lubricant, ready for work and able to do it, it is a little hard to associate so respectable and dignified a fabric with the rusty heap of iron that lay in the Kinkora yard. [Sidenote: SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION]