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22 MARINE REVIEW. [April 18, REAR ADMIRAL MELVILLE ON SUBMARINE BOATS. Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville, chief of the bureau of engi- neering, has written an article upon submarine boats for the North Ameri- can Review, in which it is quite clear that he looks doubtfully upon them. He says in part: : "With many exceedingly aggressive forces arrayed in favor of the submarine boat it can be expected that determined efforts will be made to construct more boats of this character. The majority of naval students and experts, however, are still agnostics upon the question, because they believe that there is nothing in the capabilities of the boat which have so far been demonstrated to justify its extended use. It is possible that the type may eventually be developed to a state of reliability and efh- ciency; but when the serious difficulties which must first be overcome are taken into consideration it will be evident that that hope can be realized only after important improvements have been effected. The in- herent defects which confronted the inventors of a hundred years ago still exist in the submarine tyne. Broadly speaking, the craft is still without an eye to direct her movements. The compass on a submarine boat must, of necessity, be an unreliable instrument. As it must be placed near masses of iron or steel which are liable to be moved, there must be a constant change of directive force. When a torpedo is fired, when a spare one is placed in the tube, or when the conning tower hatch is put on, the compass must be affected. Extraneous influences, such as chain cables, vessels at anchor, or passing ships may cause a deflection of the compass. Practically, but little advance has been made in securing increased sta- bility. There can be little or no longitudinal stability in any boat which is designed to dive like a porpoise. Transverse stability can be secured, but longitudinal cannot be gotten without making sacrifices which would seriously interfere with the boat's efficiency. Much has been written about the speed of the vessel, and yet there is no,evidence that any sub- marine boat has ever been able, on a submerged run, to secure a six-knot speed for three successive hours. Some remarkable statements have been made as to the time required to submerge and raise this type of boat. In any boat where there is but little reserve buoyancy, care must of necessity be exercised in adding, removing, or shifting weights. Therefore, in filling and blowing out the submerging tanks, which hold at least twelve tons of water, a considerable period of time must be required. It is simply a mechanical impossibility for the Holland to be safely submerged to even a depth of ten feet in less than one minute. Of course, she can be sunk by an enemy or ill-disposed person in less time, but it is not the purpose of her designers to have her own crew perform this evolution. "In using three distinct systems of mechanical energy, many of the submarine torpedo boats have an inherent weakness. In the Holland, a small boat of 75 tons, gasoline, electricity and compressed air are used for different purposes. Gasoline is extremely liable to explode. At least one of its products of combustion is extremely dangerous to life. It is very attenuated, and therefore a great searcher. If there is a defective joint, or pipe, or leaky valve, the gasoline will find it. In a boat of the character of the Holland it must be difficult to, keep the electric motors in a high state of efficiency. The compartment must of necessity be damp, and therefore drops of water are likely to fall on every part of the motors. Salt water is liable also to fall down the hatches and ventilators, thus menacing the dynamos and storage batteries. The air flasks may be an element of danger, since they are charged to a pressure of 2,000 Ibs. The explosion of any one of these tanks would destroy the vessel. "There are three sets of gearing. The use of gearing on board any ship is at least inadvisable, for, no matter how strong the hull is made, there must be in a seaway some working of the vessel, and the gear is likely to break if it does not become impaired. The noise in the engine room is a serious disadvantage. The gas engine is subjected to shock rather than to steady pressure, and therefore the engine pounds heavily. As all three sets of gearing are running continuously, there is considerable noise from that source. Since the explosion of the gasoline is effected by a spark from an ignition storage battery, any accident to this battery would throw the gas engine out of operation. This may prove a serious weakness, since the cells of the storage battery are in such an exposed position that they could be very easily impaired. Despite these weaknesses of the Holland she possesses some value in her ability to possibly reach unseen the enemy's fleet, discharge her torpedo, and immediately disap- eee and get away. A semi-submerged boat would have greater advan- ages. LAYING CABLES} FOR NEW EAST RIVER BRIDGE. On April 7 the John A. Roebling's Sons Co. took the first important step in the making and laying of the cables for the new East river bridge at New York. The contract was awarded to the company several months ago and the preparation of plans and other preliminary work, as well as the main part of the contract, which is to follow, is under the supervision of Mr. Charles G. Roebling, the president of the company, who is as- sisted by 'Mr. William Hildenbrand. The work done during the past week was the placing in position of the 24%4-in. diameter ropes which sup- port the temporary foot bridge on which the workmen will stand during the main work of cable laying. Several methods of getting the first line _across have been employed in the past, and kites, swimmers and other agents have been tried, but the method employed on this occasion has never been tried before, and is a distinct advance over all previous ones. The method adopted was to carry the drum containing the cable across the river on a float (one end having previously been secured) and pay out the cable, allowing it to rest on the river bed until at the proper time it could be raised from the water and to the desired height by means of a stationary engine and drum. The first cable was successfully raised on April 11, the time required being only seven minutes, navigation being, of course, suspended during that period. : A very heavy increase in the make of pig iron is again S duction on April 1 was at the rate of 296,076 tons wea. Ce eae has been exceeded twice in the history of the industry--on Dec. 1 1809. when 296,950 tons were produced, and on Feb, 1, 1900, when the output was 208,014 tons. The remarkable feature of the situation is the decrease of oe tons yp furnace stocks cis nach in the face of this enormous roduction, while in six months the loss in supply h 503,656 tons. Pply has amounted to ADVANTAGES OF INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS Some of the clearest articles in justification of industrial combinations which have appeared in the magazines and periodicals during the past two years have been from the pen of Charles R. Flint of New York, who has been very active in forming such combinations. He is a firm believer inthem. He believes that they can prevent panic, can weather any econo- mic disturbance, and that while they cannot forever guarantee prosperity, for like all things else, they are subject to the law of supply and demand, they can, however, ease the period of inevitable depression. In his testi- mony before the industrial commission at Washington this week he said: "My experience has been that the best way to meet the conditions that arise through industrial combinations is by accurate comparative accounts rendered monthly, which permit a comparison of the general results ac- complished at the various establishments, carrying it down to detail, and at the same time giving the managers an interest in the profits of the business they direct. On the other hand, there are lines of business that are of such character that a central management can direct the business in a way that it can be all handled from a central office. These latter combinations can be illustrated by reference to the manufacture of metals. This can be reduced to accurate system. The salary of the chief officers of the metal industrials is small compared with the salary paid local man- agers in other industrial concerns. I have never had a strike in any industrial I have been connected with. That statement is the best evi- dence that could be produced to show that we enjoy the good will of our pre I cannot say, however, whether or not union men are em- ployed. "Every year our export trade is going to become more and more important, and I think we should attempt freer trade. I think the only danger that exists at present in international trade is that of a war of tariffs. I think any legislation that would discriminate against trusts in general without differentiating would be most disastrous to the labor in this country and would create an industrial panic. (Combinations have been useful in stimulating export trade, and the best evidence is in the fact that the great bulk of our exports of manufactured goods are produced by the great combinations. There are times when because of a surplus manufacturers will seek foreign markets at a concession, but it is not true that we sell abroad at a lower price than at home. The industrial combina- tions can regulate the production, and are less likely to be under financial pressure than the small, independent concerns, hence they are not forced to sacrifice their products either at home or abroad. "TI think the tariff is necessary to keep those trusts here in which hand labor represents a large percentage of the cost, and where this coun- try offers no advantages in the way of raw materials. Where we have raw material and where American labor is bossing machinery I believe the tariff has no effect one way or the other. I believe that wages should be sustained. It is important that we should have widely distributed markets, because in that way we are less subject to the disadvantages of foreign tariffs, of contraction and expansion. A world-wide combination cannot be; it is not within the range of possibilities; a man of sufficient intelligence to manage it cannot be found. The price of articles sold by the industrial combinations is regulated by the cost. We are working under the same law, which is universal, that the lowest price makes the market. Our export of manufactured goods does not amount to over 5 per cent. of the consumption in the United States. "I regard the reciprocity theory as the highest evolution of the pro- tective policy, but there is danger in extending reciprocity too far. In- dustrial combinations, unless favored by public franchises or by govern- ment patents, are subject to the law which regulates the market, and to exist must create and sustain facilities that result in producing articles at the lowest cost. Inasmuch as the output of a great combination is very large a reduction of prices that would be small to an individual concern becomes enormous to the combination. The conditions must therefore be exceptional to warrant a cut in prices by a combination. If a great combination creates facilities for more economic production it will hold the market by making lower prices for the consumer, and thus result in the greatest good to the greatest number. Wages are being sustained by the combinations. The workman is getting more money for his labor and his wages are given a greater purchasing power. There is a growing feeling on the part of the workmen that they are benefiting by the indus- trial combinations. "There are a hundred times as many people interested in our indus- trials as there was twenty-five years ago, and ten years hence there will be a hundred times more. The industrial combinations are giving the public an opportunity to share in the profits. The average earnings of thirty-seven railroads amount to about 434 per cent. of the market price, and a little more than that on the par value of the securities, and if it had not been for the creation of these industrial securities that percentage would have been considerably less. The earnings of forty-seven important industrials, not including the Standard Oil, is over 7 per cent. on the capital and over 11 per cent. on the present market price. "Overcapitalization has been prejudicial and disastrous. It has made investors and bankers more careful. Trade is best regulated by natural laws, and legislation cannot supplant the law of supply and demand. I believe that American labor is much more efficient than European labor and, in general, where American workmen boss a machine, and where the machinery is doing the work which pauper labor is doing on the other side, the industry would remain here, tariff or no tariff. Where hand labor is employed we can get more for our money in Europe. If you examine our exports you will find that the large percentage of our manu- factured goods sent abroad are the product of machinery, where the American workman is an overseer instead of a hand laborer. On the other hand, you will find that the neutral markets for supplies made by hand labor are predominated by the cheap labor countries of Europe. I think the centralized management is the more desirable where there are men of sufficient intellectual capacity to administer the extended business. It is difficult to find men of sufficient capacity to run one large business. There are not many intellectual giants with capacity to run ten or more large business affairs and in my judgment one of the dangers to the success in industrials is that in the absence of intellectual giants we attempt to centralize too much."