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30 e oo TAeE MARINE REVIEW 'The heavy iron straps insure in most instances arrival in good condition. . At the time of the exposure the bund was literally Le with damaged bales of American piece goods. There must have been at the lowest estimate 500 in the immediate range of vision and the greater part were torn, soiled, and in bad shape generally. Those in the best condition were bound with iron straps, while the rope-tied bales suffered the most. oe second letter describing condition in which piece goods shipped from the United States arrive in China is furnished by Special Agent Crist. A number of photo- graphs were obtained which add to the value of the spe- cial agent's descriptions. His report follows: Much of the American piece goods comes in machine- pressed bales, bound with eight, nine, or ten ropes. Other countries use iron bands with buckles or locked ends. There are so many disadvantages and apparently no ad- vantage save that. of cheapness in the use of ropes, which are considered most undesirable by those engaged in foreign trade at this port. The principal disadvantage is that the goods arrive in such damaged condition as to at once place them at a higher price, allowing for consequent loss, than similar goods better packed. The allowance of claims for damaged cloth is a constant element in impo-t- ing American baled goods, which does not figure p-omin- ently in the calculation of the prices of goods from other. __ countries. In looking over the stock of piece goods in a godown in Tientsin, which represented between 500 and 800 bales from different countries, it was found that about 60 per cent of them were American product. In the course of their shipment and transshipment, from three to eight, and in many instances all, of the ropes had been removed from fully 80 per cent of the bales in sight, with the re- sult that from the consequent bursting the contents had become soiled through contact with dirt and mud. Much of the goods had been damaged through abrasion and tearing from exposure. This condition was the basis for a claim for discount by the Chinese merchant, which has to be entertained; and as no claim can be collected from the shipping company, the loss has to be sustained by the commission house. Baling with ropes is considered in- adequate protection to the goods, and does not admit of reimbursement for damages sustained. Some American manufacturers have adopted the metal strap baling sys- tem, the best and only appropriate method of baling goods for this market. There is a light-weight metal band used by some American mills which is better than any in use. It appears to be made of malleable or wrought iron, is very strong in tensile strength, but is easily torn by the hands if started by a small cut on the side. The metal does not rust by contact with water or dampness, as do ordinary iron straps. Rust frequently stains the goods. One expedient adopted by shippers: is to coat both sides of the bands with either black or red paint, which materially reduces the liability to rust. All Indian bales are bound with iron straps having a covering of heavy red paint, as the vicissitudes of these goods are many, four months often elapsing between the time of shipment and arrival at this port from India; the course of the goods often requiring four transshipments. English baled goods in most instances have as an added protection from abrasion a piece of tarred gunny cloth wrapped about the joint formed by the fastening of the ends. This materially reduces damage from that source. ~PROSPECTS OF THE ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE. An interesting paper on "The Evolution and Prospects of -- the Elastic Fluid Turbine," was read at the meeting of the Institute of Engineers and Ship Builders in Scotland, held in Glasgow on December 20, by R. M. Neilson, of Manchester, Mr. Neilson said the efficiency of large steam turbines built for driving electric generators had been brought so high dur- ing the last few years that there was little chance of the present records for low steam consumption being lowered in the near future to any great extent. The elastic turbine was, however, in his opinion by no means so perfect or so adapta- ble as it might reasonably be hoped that it would be in the near future. With regard to the propulsion of ships by marine steam turbines, wonderful progress. had been made during the last ten years, but there was still room for im- provement in the steam turbine screw-propeller combination. especially with respect to small, slow vessels. There was also room for improvement as regarded reversing. For many purposes the speeds of rotation which it had been found nec- essary to give' steam turbines, especially those of smaller power, had been a serious objection to their use. Moreover, the serious falling off in the efficiency of turbines when run with a poor vacuum, and the still greater drop in their effi- ciency when run non-condensing, had in many cases pre- vented their adoption. Steam, although convenient, was not the only possible elastic fluid for a turbine ; and the much greater ranges of temperature with the same range of pres- sure obtainable by the employment of other fluids, instead of or in conjunction with steam, deserved serious consid- eration. He was certain that turbines actuated by. some elastic fluid would form a very large percentage of the prime movers employed during the next fifty years. This proph- ecy was made with a good knowledge of the success that had been achieved with gas producers and _ large reciprocating gas engines and with a belief that the ad- vantages of steam turbines had often been over rated and it was not made from any special feeling of attachment to turbines, but from a careful weighing of the advantages and disadvantages of reciprocating and other machinery, In the course of a brief discussion which followed, Professor Jamieson referred to the difficulty of obtaining reliable information as to the working of turbines. WHAT THE POWERS ARE DOING. The most interesting feature of the ship building projects of the great naval powers for the coming year is the increas- ing size of the battleships. The two battleships launched by Great Britain this year, the Africa and the Hibernia, were of 16,350 tons, and these were larger than those launched by "any other power. The prevailing size of next year's battle- ships will be 18,000 tons. Great Britain is building an exper- imental example in the Dreadnought. Other powers are following suit, although their vessels are still in the air. The United States Naval Construction Board is about to submit plans to congress for a new type of 18,000-ton battle- ship; the Russian naval program provides for six ships of the same burden; France talks about laying down three -18,000-ton. monsters, and Japan two; while Germany hopes To descend from ships in the air to ships ii the water, Great Britain launched during the year two battleships and four armored _ cruisers; France launched one battleship and one armored cruiser; Germany two battleships; Russia one battleship; Italy a battleship and an armored cruiser; Japan two battle- ships and one armored cruiser; and the United States four battleships and one armored cruiser. In the list of vessels completed and put into service, Great Britain comes first with a record of five battleships and four armored cruisers, against five battleships by the United States, two battleships and two cruisers by Germany, and one armored cruiser each by France and Italy. Of all the naval powers, Italy alone still pins her faith to the small mobile type of battleship. for six.