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22 MARINE REVIEW. [May 31, SAFETY SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC WATER-TIGHT DOORS. BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SPRAGUE ELEOTRIO CO., NEW YORK. A modern seagoing steamship, whether battleship or of the merchant marine, would undoubtedly be considered unsafe if it were not provided with water-tight bulkheads, dividing its hull into several distinct compart- ments. Inasmuch as the ultimate efficiency of such water-tight compart- ments depends upon their integrity when an emergency arises, and as every bulkhead is pierced below the water line by one or more openings for entrance and egress, it becomes of the greatest importance to have these openings provided with doors that may be closed quickly, conve- niently and surely. : : 'Aside from doors operated solely by hand--and the inadequacy 01 these has been fully demonstrated--there are now known three methods or systems of power-operated doors: 'One, hydraulic; two, pneumatic; three, electric. : : Doors controlled hydraulically have been tried experimentally upon a United States cruiser. These served to demonstrate very clearly the im- portant advantages of a power door, but owing to many difficulties inher- ent with the system, hydraulic control has been abandoned. Pnematic doors are now in an experimental stage. The difficulties attendant upon this mode of control are quite as numerous and as serious as with the hydraulic. : With full appreciation of the defects and limitations of both hydraulic and pneumatic systems, The Sprague Electric Co., No. 527-531 West Thirty-fourth street, New York, presents the "safety system of electric water-tight doors" with perfect confidence that in this system not only are the defects of the fluid systems entirely avoided, but that owing to its many advantages and superiorities, it is the logically correct and ultimate method of door control. The safety door is the invention of 'Naval Con- structor Francis T. Bowles, U. S. N., whose ability and wide experience in the construction of ships and the auxiliary apparatus for use on ship- board makes his judgment on these matters beyond all question. The details of construction and control have been most carefully worked out in conjunction with and under the direction of Mr. Bowles, by the Sprague Electric Co., which has had many years' experience in building automatically-controlled electric devices. The Safety system meets per- fectly every requirement for a bulkhead door that has been outlined by authorities on this subject, or found desirable from experience. First. The door can be raised or lowered by power, or by hand, by one operator at the door on either side of the bulkhead. Second. It will close either against a rush of water or against a rush of mixed water and coal, or through coal on the door sill due to the first opening of a full bunker. Third. It is possible to close by power from the bridge, or from one or more central or emergency stations, any desired group of doors, or all the doors simultaneously, or in any degree of succession. Fourth. There is at each emergency station a positive and reliable indicator by which the closure of each door is made known. Fifth. The operation of the emergency closing in no way interferes with the local operation by hand or power. Sixth. The local control by power kas precedence over the emer- gency closure, so that, independent of such closure, a door may be stopped or opened for egress. After the local switch is released the emergency again assumes control and closes the door. Seventh. The leads which supply power, and which control the doors -as well as the operating mechanism, are unaffected by any temperature conditions existing on board ship. _ Eighth. The doors have no tendency to "creep," and will remain in any position without expenditure of power to hold them. _ Ninth. The power is taken from the main generating plant of the ship, and requires no auxiliary central station or apparatus under con- tinual and wasteful operation. Tenth. There are no valves, springs or packing, which are subject to continual deterioration and require constant care. A consideration of the details of construction of the apparatus will show that it possesses simplicity, strength, reliability and durability. There are few parts, and no delicate mechanisms. The door and its frame are very rigid, and will not be thrown out of alignment by warping of bulkheads. The door-rim and frame, and all sliding parts and bearings, are bronze. The motor and controlling mechanism are enclosed in bronze water-tight cases which protect them from mechanical injury, and from water. The driving mechanism occupies but little space, and the controlling apparatus can be so located as to avoid interference with other apparatus. The sliding portion of the door is of steel plate, with bronze rim and rack. The frame is of bronze, which is bolted to the bulkhead. The edge nearest the bulkhead is a plane scraped surface, made water-tight by the action of wedges on the opposite side of the door, which take up in the last one-half inch of travel. These wedges are placed at close intervals along each edge of the door. The door plate carries a 'bronze rack into which gears a pinion keyed to a horizontal shaft across | the guide frame. This pinion shaft is connected through a worm wheel and worm to a shaft extending through the bulkhead, and upon which is mounted the motor armature. For hand operation, cranks are provided which ship over the hexagonal ends of the worm shaft on either side of the bulkhead. The motor is specially built and wound, so that in ordinary use the power required to raise or lower the door is very small, but when the sill is covered by coal or other obstruction, it is capable of exerting a very powerful effort and will drive the door to its seat. The controlling mechanism includes controller, hand switch, auto- matic limit switch and emergency switch. Controller--This consists of two magnetic switches which govern the circuits of the driving motor. The switches are closed electrically and are opened by gravity when the current is cut off. One switch con- trols the upward, and the other the downward motion. The only moving portions of this controller are the solenoid "plungers," which carry solid copper contacts on flexible phosphor-bronze springs. These contacts make up against carbon blocks held in solid studs. All arcing when the motor circuit is broken is taken on these carbon blocks, which, as the carbon wears away from continued use, can be adjusted in their studs. The contact with the carbons is independent of this wear, over wide range, On account of the copper contacts being mounted o9n flexible springs. There are no pivots or pin joints, and no delicate springs or parts that require skill in adjusting. Hand Switch--This is a three-point switch operated by a shaft that passes through the bulkhead and carries a handle on each side. A movement of the switch handle to the right or left is all that is required to operate the door up or down. As long as the handle is held in one or the other position, the door continues to move. When released it is re- turned to its central position by a spiral spring and the door is imme- diately stopped. The contacts are simple and sure, and the handle is made especially heavy to withstand rough usage. : Automatic Limit Switch--This consists of two arms carried on a shalt which is connected to and driven by the main pinion shaft of the door. These two arms engage with switches which are opened, cutting off cur- rent and thus stopping the motor when the door has reached its ex- treme upper or lower positions. These arms are adjustable upon their shaft so that the limits of motion of the door can be accurately deter- mined when installed. After being adjusted, no further care is required. Emergency 'Switch--The emergency switch for closing the door from a distant point consists of a standard push button snap switch placed in a suitable case, which also contains the indicator. This is a small incan- descent lamp, which, when lit, illuminates the circular glass "bull's eye." All connecting wires from each electric fixture are brought to a central junction box, which forms a central station for connecting the circuits or testing them out. All enclosing boxes are fitted for receiving iron pipe connections. A standard No. 1 vertical door was erected in 1899 for trial tests at the Brooklyn navy yard. This was subjected to the most severe tests, extending over long periods, all of which it withstood most successfully. Without a particle of attention or adjustment, the door was operated many times a day for five months, and was closed many times through coal piled over'the sill and through other obstructions. This same door, without any change or repairs whatever has been sent to the Paris expo- sition, at the request of and under the auspices of the United States gov- ernment. After an exhaustive test and examination by a special commission appointed by the secretary of the navy, these doors were recommended for and installed upon the United 'States steamer Atlanta, where they are now in service. Installations have been made also on the steamer St. Paul of the International Navigation Co.'s fleet, and others are in progress and under advisement. ; EASTERN SHIP BUILDING COMPANY. (From the Commercial and Financial World.) It would scarcely be possible to attach too much importance to the work that has been taken in hand by the powerful corporation known as the Eastern Ship Building Co., of New London, Conn. This company was incorporated in March last under the laws of New Jersey with a cap- ital of $500,000, in shares of the par value of $100 each, for the purpose of carrying on a general steamship building business. _ The gentlemen identified with this undertaking bring to bear great ability and long experience in this line of work, and it seems to be a fore- gone conclusion that they are destined to achieve brilliant success. Mr. Charles R. Hanscom is president of the company and Mr. John Sherman Hoyt is secretary and treasurer. Mr. Hanscom is well known in connec- tion with ship building work, having been for twenty years connected with the Bath Iron.'Works at Bath, 'Me. He will devote his personal attention to the business of the company at the works, making his headquarters at the New London office, which is the main office. Mr. John Sherman Hoyt, the secretary and treasurer of the company, is a man of very high standing in financial and business circles. He is treasurer of the Dudley company, director of the Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Co., vice- president of the Nevada Central Railroad Co., vice-president of the Ne- vada company, etc., etc. Mr. Hoyt takes personal charge of the financial affairs of the Eastern Ship Building Co., and makes his headquarters at the company's 'New York offices just opened in the Stokes building on Cedar street. The board of directors of this company is composed of men of wealth and standing and is an exceptionally strong one. The company is erect- ing new shops and buildings at New 'London, and when everything is fin- ished they will have the finest and best equipped plant of the kind in the United States. They have just begun work on a contract with the Great Northern Railroad Co., involving the building of two immense steam- ships for freight and passenger service from Pacific coast ports. They will be the largest vessels of their kind in the world. They will be 625 feet long, 73 feet beam and 53 feet deep. They will be of 19,000 tons registered tonnage and 33,000 tons displacement. They will be fitted with all the latest and most important improvements and are to be finished in two years. : It is learned that the company's plant will be finished by July 1, 1900, and they will then be prepared to undertake the construction of vessels of every kind, for either business or pleasure purposes. The company will Be for government work whenever there is any to be given out, and ere is no doubt but they will secure a fair share thereof. They will have a large force of the best workmen in the country, and their facilities and equipments being all entirely new and up-to-date in every sense of the word, they will be able to get out high-class work as cheaply as any con- ae in the United States. The establishment of a great plant of this eet means a great deal to New 'London, and it is proper to add that the gentlemen concerned have shown singularly good judgment in their selection of that port as their headquarters. The Empi pals TUBE COMPANY ORGANIZED. ne Empire Seamless Tube Co. has been incorporated with a capital ne of $5,000,000 for the manufacture of metal nibine. steam, Og ee Oe marine, tubular, and stationary boiler tubes, hol- piers aah hin bicycle tubing, structural steel tubing, trolley poles, less cteel oe ' he gas and oil pipe lines, artesian well casing and seam- cial uses Ae a De hydraulic tubing and pipe, generally for commer- will be conc Sie a epew, near Buffalo, has been selected and the plant : Tucted by Hi, K. Flagler and Charles H. Twist. The com; pany contemplates the building of other plants in different sections of. the: country to use the seamless pro ich i i ie process for which is claimed reduced costs