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20 TAE Marine REVIEW to the Union Oil Co. which has the contract for furnish- ing fuel oil: for the dredges and other machinery equip- ment along the line of the Panama canal. The steamers will run from the California oil fields to the Panama canal zone. Both of these vessels were built at Cleveland under the supervision of Lloyds, Mr. A. C. Heron who is now at Nagasaki, Japan, representing the classification society. The ships were of the general ocean type and were de- signed to have a deadweight capacity at 25 ft. 6 in. draught of 7,000 gross tons cargo and 700 tons bunker fuel. Their general dimensions which were dictated as far as beam is concerned, by the width of the Canadian canals, are as follows: : Pere Over Gl. ee. PO ANS Ht. 0 Th. Length between perpendiculars: ...... 430 ft. : rescue, moMed oot es 43 ft. 7% in. \ Depth, molded te ipper deck... °.:.... So 1tG in, The steamers were built to the highest class (100 A) of the British Lloyd and weve constructed under the three deck rules. They are exceptionally heavy in scantlings. A double bottom 4% ft. deep on the cellular principle with solid floors at every frame extends from the collision bulkhead to the after-peak bulkhead, with a total capacity, including peak tanks, of 1,600 tons water ballast. The upper and main decks are laid complete, but the lower deck was not completely laid, having open spaces between beams to facilitate the stowage of cargo. The forward hold was divided into three compartments by two water- tight bulkheads, the after compartment forming an auxil- iary bunker and connected to the stoke-holds by tunnel through the permanent bunkers and watertight door in bulkhead. The after hold was divided into two compart- ments, making five compartments all told, with cargo > capacity for-360,000 cu. ft. There were nine 14-ft. hatches, affording exceptional facility for the rapid discharge of cargo. The cargo-handling gear consisted of four short steel pole masts each fitted with four large derrick booms. A double cylinder steel winch was installed for each hatch. The steamers were equipped with triple-expansion en- gines with cylinders 27, 4214 and 73 in. diameters by 48 in. stroke. The high pressure cylinder only is fitted with a liner. The cylinders were arranged from forward in the order of high pressure, intermediate and low pressure. The high pressure and intermediate valves: piston and double-ported slides respectively, were placed between these cylinders, and the low pressure double-ported slide valve is between the intermediate and low pressure cyl- inder. The bed-plate is in three pieces, bolted together and contains six main bearings, 14 in. diameter and 14 in. long, lined with white metal in cast iron circular bushings. 'The condenser, which is in cast iron, rectangular section, extends about two-thirds the length of the engine at the back, supporting on its top two of the back columns. It contains 3,120 sq. ft. of cooling surface made up of 34-in. brass tubes. The circulating water is pumped twice through by a 1I2-in. centrifugal pump driven by an independent engine. The three front and forward back columns are of the inverted Y pattern, allowing free access to crank pins and bearings. The piston rods are of steel 634 in. dia- meter and the connecting rods are Io ft. between centers. The crank shaft, which is in three interchangeable parts 14 in, diameters, is of forged steel with wrought iron crank arms. The crank pins are 14 in. diameter by 15% in. long. Tunnel and propeller shafts are of forged steel 134 in. and 15% in. diameter respectively, the latter being protected in a stern tube by a continuous liner. This liner is shzunk on in five lengths, the ends of which are fused together by the pouring of molten brass over the joints. The valve gear is Stephenson double bar link motion throughout, the reversing engines being of the direct-acting type. The air pump is of the vertical single-acting type, driven from the low-pressure crosshead and fitted with bronze disc valves. Two feed and two bilge pumps are also driven from air pump crosshead, the feed pumps taking water from the hotwell and delivering to the feed heater, which is of the Worthington type from whence the feed water gravitates to the duplex vertical Blake main feed pumps by which it is pumped to the boilers through an oil filter. The donkey and ballast pumps are Blake vertical duplex type, the latter being arranged so that it may be used as a circulating pump. The donkey boiler and evaporator feed pumps are horizontal duplex. The main steam pipe is of 9-in. lap-welded iron with riveted cast steel flanges, the connections to the fore boilers being made of small drawn copper tubing with suitable expansion bends and slip joints. Auxiliary steam and exhaust pipes are copper and bilge suctions lead. The main boilers are four in number, of the Scotch type, 12 ft. mean diameter by 11 ft. 6 in. long, with a working 'pressure of 170 lbs. per square inch. Each has two Mor- rison interchangeable furnaces 'of 44 in. mean diameter with separate combustion chambers and 226 tubes of 3 in. diameter. The total grate surface in the four boilers is 148 sq. ft. and the heating surface is 6,900 sq. ft. The boilers are fitted with Howden draft with a large single fan and belted engine. The donkey boiler, intended to supply steam for the nine cargo winches, is of the Scotch type 10 ft. 6 in. diameter by Io ft. 6 in. long, with two 4o-in. furnaces and 158 tubes of 3% in. diameter. It is placed above the main boilers on the upper deck and connected to the forward main funnel. The propeller is of cast iron 76 {t. 6 in. diameter by 17 ft. pitch with 94 sq. "it. of sur- face on four removable blades. Both steamers are lighted completely throughout by electricity. Both ships are well built and proved entirely seaworthy in extremely heavy weather. CHARLES T. HARVEY ON THE SAULT CANAL. Mr. Richard P. Joy, of Detroit, sends to the Marine Review a letter from Mr. Charles T. Harvey to his father, James F. Joy, dated April 18, 1855, concerning the actual date of the completion of the first canal at Sault Ste. Marie. The letter has a certain interest also in express- ing Mr. Harvey's opinion of the Sault itself. -The letter is as follows: : "T beg leave to inform you that the excavation work (proper) on this canal was completed on the 8th inst., that the water from Lake Superior was let in on Tuesday the roth and after a week's trial of the water at full level everything seems to be right. At all events Col. Glenn, the state engineer, says he is perfectly satisfied. We could today pass any of the lake vessels through the entire canal by spending some labor in removing ice around the lock gates not yet thawed off. : "T expect to get all the surface work remaining about the canal done by the Ist proximo and have already dis- charged a portion of my men. The dredging which will then alone remain unfinished now bids fair to be done in good time. We might hope to get it done by about the time the first-boats get here were it not that the chief engineer has prohibited us from passing anything through the canal till he gets here. We want to get the dredge from one end to the other before we can make a finish. I hope the directors will soon show themselves here and allow me to leave this miserable hole of a place. Very truly, "Your Obedient Servant, CHARLES T. HARVEY. * eee