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1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. a 37 winter, when coal was scarce, a good many of the revenue cutters were employed in carrying coal to the lighthouses, and the anx- ious keepers of the lights eagerly anticipated the coming of the cutters with the precious fuel to keep them from freezing and their lights from expiring. In a small ship like a revenue cutter there is a less hetero- geneous mixture of officers and nien than on a larger war ship, and the men selected for this important part of the govermment's work are picked with some idea of their congenial fitness for life in restricted quarters. If the men were uncongenial to each other they would cripple the service and produce discord among the ranks. As a rule the officers are transferred to new stations in a body, and it will often be found that the commanding officer, executive officer, and the navigating officer of a cutter have worked together for ten or inore years, having received the same assignments for a consecutive number of years on different stations, 'There is an effort to keep the engineers and the assis- tants together on the same cutter to make life more agreeable for them. Consequently on a revenue cutter a veritable happy family is to be found in the officers' quarters, while in the ward room mess there is also observable a spirit of congeniality that is ' often lacking on war ships. One may hear the strumming of a piano or the notes of a guitar or banjo on warm summer nights as the cutter rides at anchor in Newport, Boston or some other harbor. The men are engaged 1n various ways of self-enter- 'tainment, which make their little world independent of all else. CONDITION OF UNITED STATES SHIP BUILDING CO. For several davs stories have been afloat to the effect that the United States Ship Building Co. was to be re-financed. One story had it that Charles M. Schwab, president of the United tates Steel Corporation, who was said to control the company's bond issue, wanted to retire the whole issue of $16,000,000. An- other story was to the effect that Lewis Nixon, president of the shin building company, who was said to control the company's stock issue, wanted to retire the common stock. Upon being asked about these stories Mr. Nixon said: "There is just a slight basis of fact in them. 'The situation is this: "Every one of our constituent companies is doing all the work it can. 'We have reached the limit of our capacity, both in repairing and building. 'The question that confronts us, there- fore, is, shall we turn away work, shall we enlarge our plants, or shall we buy new plants? We have offers of several plants but I am not in favor of purchase. I want to build up the plants we now have and provide for the future. Others interested in the company have other notions and at present nothing has been decided on. My estimate is that we shall need about $5,000,000 to enlarge our plants and bring them up to the maximum of efficiency. It is not a large amount of money, but at present it has not been determined whether we shall attempt to raise it or keep the plants as they now are." In answer to a question Mr. Nixon said that Mr. Schwab controls both the stock and bonds of the company. EXTRUDED METAL. Com/dr. Warner B. Bailey's address before the American Society of Naval Engineers upon "Extruded Metal" has been re- printed by the Coe Brass Manufacturing Co., Ansonia, Conn., who are makers of this material in this country and who are now adding to their plant for the purpose of manufacturing it on a more extensive scale. 'The address is brief and is as follows: "By the process of extrusion, bars or rods of almost any par- ticular cross section in brass or high tensile-strength bronze are produced, and so accurately that no machining is afterwards required. 'These special-shaped wrought rods, bars and angles are used in long lengths, or cut up into short sections, and super- cede casting for many purposes. The process consists of squeez- ing the heated metal through dies of almost any desired shape by hydraulic pressure (oftentimes as high as 60,000 Ibs. per square inch.) 'The very high compression to which the semi-plastic material is thus subjected renders it perfectly homogeneous and free from possible casting defects. Its molecules are densely compressed, and the quality must necessarily be greatly im- 'proved. Extruded bars or rods consequently possess, in a very marked degree, those qualities which are essential for sound en- gineering work. Various alloys may be used in this process, but not all of the alloys commonly rolled or cast. In addition to bars or rods of irregular cross section, all stock sizes of round, hexa- gon, square, rectangular, half-round, etc., are produced, suitable for forging into bolts or for all engineering purposes. Alloys used for this purpose are naval brass, Muntz metal, and other special bronzes suitable for forging. 'The alloys used for making _ angles, 'I' bars and special shapes for marine work are approxi- mately the same as naval brass, containing copper, tin and zinc in proper proportions to extrude into these shapes satisfactorily. All such alloys have high tensile strength and are particularly non-corrosive in their qualities. "A recent test of naval brass extruded rods for bolt stock to be used on the U. S. S. Chattanooga, resulted as follows: Diameter, .875; reduced diameter, .785; reduction of area, per cent., 19.4; elastic limit per sauare inch, 41,600; maximum strength per square inch, 63,200; elongation in 8 in. per cent., 21. : "A test of an extruded angle of large size for the cruiser Des Moines resulted as follows: Reduction of area per cent., 20; elestic limit per square inch, 33,800; maximum strength per square inch, 80,500 ; elongation in 8 in. per cent., 18.1. _ "The dimensions of the bars produced are limited by the weight of the billet adapted to the extrusion machine. Billets usually range in weight from 150 to 175 lbs., and rods are pro-. duced ranging in weight from a quarter of a pound per foot and about 36 in. in diameter to sections 10 to 12 Ibs. per foot and 4 to 5 in. in width, It will thus be understood that light sections may be had in long lengths and heavy angles in lengths from 12 to 18 ft. The extrusion process of making rods for engineering work in- sures greater uniformity in the material than ever before possi- ble, and for special purposes alloys may be produced having requisite tensile strength or elongation adapted for the work, even up to the strength of good quality steel, at the same time non-corrosive. "In addition to the extruded rods in common sizes and shapes, such as rounds, hexagons, squares, etc., 'I' angles, I beams and bulb angles of any description are manufactured for use in hull construction of battleships, torpedo boats and yachts. Many - yachts and launches have already been made with the frames en- tirely of extruded bronze bulb angles in place of steel. The material has also entered into the construction of self-closing compartment doors for ships, ammunition chain rollers, stanch- ions, and in other places where reliability, strength and non-cor- rosive qualities are required. The hull of the new cup defender is of Tobin bronze, while the framing is of steel. As bulb an- gles and beams of sizes up to 6 in. are made by the extrusion pro- cess, and as the metal possesses the strength and stiffness of mild steel, it would seem admirably adapted to this purpose. 'The ex- trusion process, though new to this country, has been in use for some time in England and on the continent." "LIPTON AND THE YACHTS. If we believe Schopenhauer, a man's life may be divided into five periods, according to the desires that consecutively fill his soul. First he is lonSing for pants; second, a watch; third, an angel in pink muslin; fourth, money,; fifth, a place in this world. And so it seems that Mr. Lipton has entered upon the fifth period of his life, the "place" he desires being that of lifter of a rather ugly piece of furniture known the world over as "the cup. The youngest Shamrock has shown herself speedier than her namesakes, and though dismasted through some weakness in her rigging, and incidentally ruining a small fortune in sails, her owner immediately set about to remedy the mishap, showing a worthy persistence which none will declare to be worthy of a better cause. Those having seen the challenger say that she is quick in stays, faster and more weatherly than her trial horse, and the best boat England ever had. As predicted in the Review the Keliance had some trial spins during the latter part of April, and any uneasiness caused by reports of the Shamrock's splendid showing vanished with the American boat's initial trip. Said boat's smooth manner of sail- ing in a 9-mile breeze, with hardly a suspicion of the so-dreaded retarding wave under the counter, was, to say the least of it, a tribute to the builder's skill, while, when going free--the Inde- pendence's favorite position--she reminded one of the latter by perceptibly raising her bow. 'The defender's main sheet is handled below deck, and the double wheel is also an innovation to enable four men to apply their strength on the tiller without standing in each other's way, while the remarkably long out- rigger, the extra thickness of the shrouds and the double bobstays give the onlooker a feeling of confidence in her strength, and a belief in the impossibility of seeing the Shamrock's accident duplicated on this side of the Atlantic. Comparing the two con- testants it is certain that both are speedy; that the English craft is quicker in stays than the Reliance with her longer fin; that the American boat is stiffer in a strong breeze, and 1s an improve- ment on the Constitution when sailing free. Not doubting the reports from the Clyde, that the Shamrock is the best challenger ever built there, Americans feel assured that the Reliance is the best racer ever built here and well qualified to prevent the cup from changing owners. F. HOME DEVELOPMENT. Editor Marine Review :--The adoption of the Panama canal route in place of the Nicaragua is attributed to Senator Hanna. That gentleman can render vastly greater service to this nation by securing through an amendment to the canal bill, or in some other form of legislation, appropriations for the construction of deep waterways from the great lakes to tidewater. Very much less money than an Isthmian canal will cost would furnish a deep waterway from the head of Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico by way of Miami and Erie canals and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and another great highway for ships from the foot of the lakes to the Hudson river, resulting in far greater advantages to the country than will ever be derived from an Isthmian canal. A tonnage of not more than 3,500,000 annually is looked for from the Isthmian waterway, while the canals referred to at home ' would soon do thirty times that amount of business. It is a disgrace to this nation--the wealthiest on the globe--that our vast inland water commerce if carried on direct to tidewater must pass through foreign territory. Millions for home development but not a dime of the people's money for unnecessary foreign jobs is the true slogan. QUAKER.