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MARINE REVIEW. | i Enquirer-Say When Yacht Race. Editor Marine Review:--The steam yacht race between the Say When and the Enquirer has proved by no means of local interest only. Neither is the interest confined to the great lakes, but naval architects all over the country have been interested in this encounter, and I think I can truly say that many have been greatly surprised at the result. Speed on paper is one thing, but speed actually attained is another. Speed on a measured mile is one thing, but a sustained speed for a number of hours run is another. Too much stress is laid today on short spurts or measured-mile trials as criterion for speed. In many cases steam is bottled up and the vessel flies over a mile course or so in a very short time, and then we hear of her remarkable speed. On the coast here, tide is often entirely ignored, and when you hear of the re- markable speed of Hudson river and Sound steamboats, etc., you may rest assured that the vessel has attained that speed (unless otherwise specified) with a two or three-knot current in her favor. There are not 50 per cent. of steam vessels built today with suffi- cient boiler power for their designed maximum speed, and many so- called 20-mile boats have not sufficient steam-generating power to pro- duce a mean speed of 17 miles for any distance over an hour's run. Such, as Mr. Fred A. Ballin has already stated, is the case of the Say When. I have heard many remarkable accounts of the great speed attained by the Say When, and she is credited on paper with a speed of between 26 and 27 miles per hour. But let us study, for a few mo- ments, her dimensions, viz., of engines, etc., and we shall see how ri- diculous these claims are. Assuming the data used by Mr. Ballin to be correct, we have: - Say When. Enquirer. Length over all...............4 138 feet 145 feet Length L. W L............0s- 116 feet 126 feet Beatmalys We Wy... ec onserovestes 13 feet 16% feet Mean dicatite..--c.c6ce cece. cre 6 feet 7 feet Engine, cylinders, inches..14%, 1714, 23%, 23%, 23% 10%, 17, 27 Engine, stroke, inches...... 15% 16 Engine, revolutions.......... 350 325 Boiler, heating surface...... 1,400 2,200 Boiler, grate surface......... 4814 Soe SRST Boiler, working pressure.. 250 250 Year vessel built............... 1888 1896 Material) rncncsedrewncestror sae composite steel The co-efficient of displacement of the Say When is about .37, and this gives us a displacement of 96 tons. The engine, as Mr. Ballin states, is supposed to be a duplicate of the Cushing's engine. Data in my possession gives the size as 11, 16, 22 and two at 224 by 15 inches stroke, but assuming the size of the engine to be as stated, it is ridicu- lous to suppose that with 250 pounds steam pressure and 350 revolu- tions the I. H. P. is 1,200. The maximum I. H. P. developed by the Cushing was 1,720, and as she is a twin-screw boat, each engine would develop about 860 I. H. P., maximum. I find,the engine was designed for 800 H. P., but after making detail calculation of the power capable of being developed at 350 revolutions, I should say 8380 I. H. P. is the maximum of the engine as fitted in the Say When. It is certain that she did not develop this power in her race with the Enquirer, as the boiler power is decidedly insufficient to furnish the Steam necessary. I have estimated that she developed 440 I. H. P., to give her the speed attained, 17.75 miles, and this gives her a displace- ment performance constant of about 175. Supposing 830 H. P, was developed--and it certainly was not--the performance constant would be but 92. The Say When is a well-modeled boat, of light composite construction and if she had sufficient boiler power I have estimated that she would attain a speed of 19 knots, or 21.88 miles, with the Stated maximum horse power of 830. The fact of her proportion be- ing nine beams to one length does not make her superior as a racer to one of eight beams to one length, and the sooner designers cast aside these old-time theories the better. I always had the impression that the Union Dry Dock Co. of Buffalo had designed the Enquirer to attain a speed of 20 miles per hour, but I see that I must have had a wrong impression, for she cer- tainly has neither boiler nor engine capable of producing the power necessary to give that result. If the revolutons stated by Mr. Ballin are Correct, the engine of the Enqurer ought to develop 640 I. H. P., and this, I guess, is just about what she averaged in her race with the Say When. The co-efficeint of displacement of the Enquirer is prob- ably .39, and this gives a displacement of 162 tons. Assuming that the vessel was to her load line on her recent trial, the performance con- stant would be about 172, which shows very good efficiency and econ- omical performance for a vessel of her class. If the Enquirer was designed for 20 miles speed, machinery capable of developing 970 I. H. P. should have been placed on board. a The great trouble with the Say When undoubtedly lies in the fact that her boiler power is greatly insufficient . The proportion of heat- ing surface to I. H. P. on the Say When is but 1.68, while on the En- quirer it is 3:48, but if the Enquirer was designed for 20 miles speed, then her engine is much too small and her steam-generating power is also small in the same proportion. Following are approximate figures estimated from data available. ' Enquirer, Ay Mean draftees 8 artis no ce ae eee hone ee Giest 7 feet Displacement) .cion Ahi 20 hee eive dere ae 96 tons 162 tons Co-efficient of displacement..............000 387 Saul «oo Maximtmole Hl. P\.seyecttece tes. antes rete? 830 640 Ip tiebadevelopedsniracetn rests 440 640 Speed wmiles.. wwe Gece eee 17.75 17.83 Speed; knots.3.5. us. sss cee 15.41 15.48 As far as the actual power developed in the race goes, I think you will find that both boats show about the same efficiency of perform- ance. The Taylor water tube boiler, from the figures in the Review, shows considerable steam-generating power on very small floor space and light weight, and in this respect it compares favorably with any water tube boiler in the market today. It is a good thing for naval architects when the real speed of ves- sels is brought to light, as people today have so many exaggerated ideas regarding speed that it bothers designers considerably. The Mediterranean steam yacht races, in which all classes of European steam yachts compete, are generally won by 15-knot boats, excluding, of course, such a boat as the Giralda, and this is about the same speed as that attained in the Enquirer and Say When race. I am glad that at last steam yachts have been able to race in this country without the machinery breaking down when half over the course, and without boyish fighting as to the result. It is certainly gratifying and proves that the owners are true sportsmen. If measured-mile trials are to determine the speed of a vessel, the boat should be sent over the course at least four or six times each way and the mean speed taken, and this should be done without giving her time to bottle up steam between each run. A two-hour's run or so over a measured course is, however, generally preferable, if the tide is accurately accounted for. If it is possible for the Review to obtain authentic information as regards the draft on trial, and I. H. P. de- veloped, of these yachts in their recent race, I trust they will do it for the benefit of interested professional men. William A. Fairburn. Bath, Me., Aug. 24, 1896. Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The following table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of trade, shows the stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular eleva- tors at the principal points of accumulation on the lakes on Aug. 22, 1896: ---- ' Wheat, bushels. __ Corn, bushels. CHICAGO. ...00s0seeseccesesercererenvceeeensee1 5,156,000 ; 5,812,000 Dultthr.....sccccscoccencsosccscssccssseseree . 5,188,000 6,000 Milwaukee....cccssscsssssscecssseseeereceeee 206,000 1,000 Detroit: sicssccrcstescecpsendsoecctansecess seem o0 000) 17,000 TOLEAO, .disessstisssuatle pestssecctsuiar cocina OC GOL 121,000 BtfialO.cccccssssctscsecerssscossscnespesssiese el VCO WUUU 635,000 NOCAlictccsc iss cnacsesicscvseaeecavadvids 20,738,000 . 6,€92,000 As compared with a week ago, the above figures show at the sev- eral points named a decrease of 717,000 bushels of wheat,and 751,- - 000 bushels of corn. It is said that the new transatlantic steamer Pennsylvania, which the Hamburg-American line is having built at. Belfast, Ireland, will haye a dead weight carrying capacity of between 13,000 and 14,000 tons. Her displacement will be 20,000 tons. She is 568 feet long, 62 feet beam and 42 feet depth. Engines will be quadruple expansion of - 7,000 horse power, and the ship is expected to attain a speed of 14 to 15 knots. She will be launched in October and will ply between New © York and Hamburg. a Tickets are on sale Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 to 11 at extremely low . rates via the Nickel Plate road to Toronto Canada, account the Inter-. national Fair, Sept. 1 to 12, and are routed via Buffalo and Niagara Falls. i 285 Sep 10