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16 MARINE REVIEW. [November 28, - tion be appointed to take some steps toward securing the adoption of better appliances. On motion of Naval Constructor Capps the whole question was referred to the executive committee. Mr. E. Platt Stratton talked of the importance of appliances for re- leasing the boats when they strike the water. Skill was needed, he de- clared, for if the controlling force be not present the boat will be dashed against the side of the vessel. The best disengaging apparatus is that which disengages at both ends simultaneously, but all appliances are use- less unless the boat be properly handled after launching. For this reason he believed that skilled surfmen were badly needed on ocean liners. SEVERE CRITICISM OF THE STEAMBOAT INSPECTION SERVICE. James R. Raymond of New York, submitted to the society a severe criticism of the steamboat inspection service, along 'the line of Mr. Hyslop's paper. "T am of the opinion," said Mr. Raymond, "that the authorities hav- ing these matters in charge, and who by law must take the initiative, will be influenced by an expression of opinion of this society, and may be in- duced to pay such regard to the subject that inventive genius will be stim- ulated in this direction, and beneficial results follow therefrom. The matter of life saving appliances, and all equipments of passenger steamers named by law, and under the immediate direction of the United States _ board of supervising inspectors of steam vessels. By law they are made the judges of the best devices and appliances, which after being approved by them and receiving the endorsement of the secretary of the treasury, become compulsory for adoption and use on the part of steam vessel owners. The board of supervising inspectors as created is supposed to be composed of men selected for their fitnes for the duties they are expected to perform. While their decisions by law require the approval of the secretary of the treasury to make them legal, the board is entirely independent of the secretary in their rulings. The United States revised statutes, relative to steam vessels, which the board of inspectors are expected to enforce are explicit and mandatory, and admit of no misinterpretation. By reference to sec- tion 4491 of the revised statutes it will be seen that 'no kind of instru- ment, machine, or equipment, for the better security of life shall be used on any steam vessel, which shall not first be approved. by the board of supervising inspectors and also by the secretary of the treasury.' Section 4488 provides that 'all steamers carrying passengers shall have the life- boats required by law, provided with suitable boat disengaging apparatus, so arranged as to allow such boats to be safely launched while such vessels are under speed or otherwise,' and section 4489 imposes a fine of $1,000 upon the owner of any steam vessel who neglects or refuses to comply with the requirements of the board of supervising inspectors. "Thus it will be seen that the law amply provides, in language un- mistakable, for the proper equipment of passenger vessels, to the extent of specifying the kind of equipment to be used in launching the boats, and imposes a fine for non-compliance with the requirements specified. It is evident that at the time statute 4488 was enacted, Feb. 28, 1871, it was the intention of the framers of the law to insist upon the use of what appeared, and what was at that time the most reliable apparatus extant, namely, one that was operated by a lever, detaching both ends of the boat from the lower blocks at the same time, and which is described and em- bodied in the statutes in the following language: 'Shall have the lite-~ boats required by law provided with suitable boat disengaging apparatus, so arranged as to allow such boats to be safely launched while such vessels are under speed or otherwise, and so as to allow such disengaging apparatus to be operated by one person, disengaging both ends of the boat simultaneously from the tackles by which it may be lowered to the water. "The law entrusts this board with the selection and enforcement of such measures as will best secure the safety of persons traveling by water, and it also, in terms positive, instructs how it shall be done. The board of supervising inspectors should, therefore, be eager to determine the best appliances for the purpose and enforce their use without fear or favor. But it is plain to anyone familiar with the proceedings of the board rela- tive to detaching apparatus, that they have aimed to do as little as pos- sible and have shown no disposition whatever to comply with the law, and in so doing, inferentially at least, serve the pecuniary interests of the steam vessel owners rather than those whose lives depend upon the selec- tion of the best means extant for the preservation of human life on ship- board. In substantiation of this it is only necessary to consider the number of passenger steamers provided with no detaching apparatus whatever, other than the antiquated hook and ring, which cannot be con- sidered to be a detaching apparatus in compliance with the specific re- quirements of the law; and to consider the further fact that some de- taching devices which the board, according to the record of their pro- ceedings, have condemned as death traps and whose only recommenda- tion is their cheapness, are allowed to remain in use, to have their defects discovered only in time of disaster. "The supervising inspector-general has asked that the statutes be amended so that the board might be enabled to select a proper device, claiming as a reason, that according to the wording of the statutes they are prevented from giving their approval of any device other than the one mentioned therein, namely, the one operated by one person, disen- gaging both ends of the boat simultaneously, etc., etc. Had he the wel- fare of the public at heart, would he, or the board of inspectors under him, find anything in the language of the statutes that would forbid the selection of any good device, the universal use of which would familiarize all sailors with its operation? Would not the enforced use of a good device, so selected, prevent the terrible blunders and loss of life now so often occurring in emergencies, because of the use of a multiplicity of defective devices? In reviewing the present situation the conclusion appears obvious, and in respect to it I agree with the opinion expressed in Mr. Hyslop's paper, that a thorough examination by a competent body of men, not merely into such matters as I have alluded to, but into the whole subject of launching ships' boats, is a great need of the present time. Such examination earnestly conducted, and the results arrived at impartially expressed, could scarcely fail to receive attention and to stir up a movement towards a much needed improvement." ELECTRIC PLANTS----COMPLICATIONS IN SHIPS. : TWO PAPERS THAT ARE SOMEWHAT RELATED TO EACH OTHER--MR. DICKIE SUGGESTS A RADICAL PLAN OF OVERCOMING COMPLICATION OF MACHINERY. Following the discussion regarding appliances for launching life boats, the paper on "Electric Plants of the Battleships Kearsarge and Kentucky," was read by the author. This paper, presented by Naval Constructor J. J. Woodward, who has for some time past represented the government in the Newport News ship yard, is a very valuable contribution to the proceedings, as the battleships Kearsarge and Kentucky, just completed at Newport News, are the first vessels of the United States navy on which the use of electricity as a motive power for the ships' auxiliary machinery has been adopted to the practical exclusion of steam. It is quite clear from this paper that there is no misunderstanding as to where the construction bureau, under Rear Admiral Hichborn, stands in the matter of electric drive for auxiliaries. "But even in the case of these vessels,' says Constructor Woodward, "a distinction has to be made between the auxiliary machinery for the general service of the vessel, such as deck winches, boat cranes, ship's ven- tilating fans, ammunition hoists, and turret-turning machinery, all of which are operated by electric motors, and the auxiliary machinery con- nected with the main propelling engines, such as air, feed and circulating pumps, forced-draft blowers, ash hoists, etc., which on these ships are still driven by small steam engines. Further exceptions to the complete use of electricity for the ship's auxiliary machinery are the windlass and steer- ing engines, which are also driven by steam. The electric plants of the Kearsarge and the Kentucky can, therefore, only be regarded as an inter- mediate step between the complete steam drive for auxiliary machinery, so largely used in the past, and the practically complete electric drive for all auxiliary machinery of every kind whatsoever, whose adoption appears to be a possibility of the near future. Indeed the most serious present limi- tation to the extent to which the electric drive for auxiliary machinery may be adopted for service in war ships is the time necessary for the officers of the naval service charged with the care of such plants to or- ganize and train the necessary personnel for the care of the dynamos and motors, and to gain that confidence in their power to maintain the plant in a constantly efficient condition which is necessary to overcome the sense of conservative distrust so apt to be felt in a new appliance or method adopted for service on board ship. For, more than in any other branch of engineering work, it is important that power appliances placed on board ship, and especially on men-of-war, shall be capable not only of working satisfactorily whén installed, but that their maintenance in an effi- cient condition can be readily accomplished by the ship's force available tor the purpose. "While a more extended use has been made of electrically driven aux- iliaries on the Kearsarge and the Kentucky than on any other vessels of the navy up to the present time, attention should be called to the fact that the various types of electrically driven auxiliary machinery used on these vessels are the logical developments of generally similar types previously installed by the bureau of construction and repair on other vessels of the navy. Thus, for example, the turret-turning machinery may be considered a development of that which worked in so satisfactory a manner on the Brooklyn's 8-inch gun turrets during the late war with Spain; the chain ammunition hoists are the same in general principle as those used on the Puritan and many other vessels; and the extensive systems of blowers and exhausters used in the ship's ventilation are similar in character to those placed on the gunboats Nashville and Wilmington two years ago, and which to-day are giving eminently satisfactory results, both from the point of view of thorough ventilation of these vessels and ease of main- tenance of the ventilation plant in an efficient condition. 'These instances of the satisfactory working in service of electrical machinery installed on vessels of our navy may not unfairly be taken as a reply to the question as to the possible doubt of maintaining in a constant state of high efficiency such an electric plant as that installed on the Kearsarge and the Kentucky. And it is to be hoped that the results obtained in service with the electric plants of these vessels may be such as to definitely lay the ghost of this doubt once and for all. For one of the most marked advantages claimed for the electric drive, namely, its efficiency in coal consumption, will in-- crease with the size of the engines employed to drive the electric gen- erators used, and the larger the number and collective power of the electric motors operated, the greater will be the opportunity to obtain such econ- omy in coal consumption. -As an illustration, on a battleship and an ar- mored cruiser now building in this country for a foreign navy the electric drive is used for practically all auxiliary machinery, not only for the gen eral service of the vessel, but for auxiliaries of the propelling. machinery as well, with the result that the generating units are of such size as to permit of their being driven by triple expansion engines of the most efficient marine type, whose economy of steam consumption will unquestionably approach closely that of the main propelling engines." Briefly stated, the electric plants of the Kearsarge and the Kentucky perform the following duties: The ship is lighted under peace and battle conditions; four search lights are operated; the Ardois signal set is oper- ated for night signaling and also various means of interior communication within the ship, such as battle and range order indicators, electric pro- pelling and steering-engine telegraphs, revolution and helm-angle indi- cators, etc.; truck lights and the ship's running lights are operated and