The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3° rying capacity of our merchant fleet, should be recorded. STANDARDIZATION IN SHIPS, : MACHINERY. The work of standardization is ad- vancing with great strides. The ad- -vantages derived from this, especially in economy of production, are great and obvious. The coming of the tur- bine has, to some extent, disturbed the scheme in respect of Admiralty ships. This, however, does not go beyond the . main engines, for auxiliary machinery may be replaced in whole or in part with no greater relative difficulty than is involved in the replacement of the paits of. a machine-made watch. 'Care must, however, be exercised lest stand- ardization should go too far in stere- otyping designs; and, it may be, in arresting invention and progress; our architects and builders are thinking of this. Speaking generally, develop- ments in the construction of merchant- men have made for the elimination of obstructions in the holds, with a view to facilitating the handling and stow- ing of cargoes--towards providing the best ballast tank arrangements for ves- sels sailing light, and towards econo- mizing. labor by supplying means for the automatic trimming of cargo. The work of specializing or standardizing in ships, while it is not new, has fur- ther developed during 1906. Economy of construction by building many ships to the same model is an old idea; but year after year the needs and require- ments of particular trades are further studied, considered and supplied. On the Clyde we have Mr. Burrell spe- cializing with the "Straight-back" type of carrier; Messrs. Sir Raylton Dixon & Co., at Middlesbrough, are also large builders of the same type of ship with uniform transverse framing, the ballast tanks being arranged beneath the upper deck at the side, whereby PARTS AND the ship is made easier at sea. Messrs. Doxford & Sons, Ltd. on the Wear, are the originators of the "Turret" type, and may be said to have stand- ardized with this class of ship; for during the last year they built ten ships of absolutely uniforn: dimensions and engine power, which affords im- mense advantage in the metter of cost; for it goes without saying that ten articles of a given pattern can be pro- duced at a much cheaper rate than one. The Northumberland Ship Building Co., on the Tyne, also built a large number of vessels of identical tonnage; while the modern cargo boat is made to a common pattern and rounded off at bow and stern, whereby construc- tion is simplified and cheapened. And in this way standardization is carried out, not only in parts of ships and machinery, but in vessels as a whole. THE Marine ReEvIEw \ MEANS OF PROPULSION, OLD AND NEW. The place of the turbine in marine propulsion is determined at the pres- ent moment; but not for long. The possibilities of saving steam wastage, and of improvements in maneuvering with oil fuel aids have been recognized by the Admiralty; and the necessary oil fittings and storage are now pro- vided on our big fighting ships. In- deed, the decision of the board re- garding turbines was made known last July.. Certain disadvantages were recognized, but it was determined to adopt the turbine "because of saving in weight and reduction in number of working parts, and reduced liability. to breakdown; its smooth working, ease of manipulation, saving in coal consumption at high powers, and hence boiler room space, and saving of en- gine room complement; and also be- cause of the increased protection which is provided for with this system, due to the engines being lower in the ship-- advantages which more *han counter- balance the disadvantages." The ob- vious advantages on the score of space and speed have impressed all the great maritime powers, who are following the lead of: the British Admiralty. Our principal engineering firms have now taken out the necessary license for making turbines, a fact significant of the value of the turbine and its further improvement. The Lusitania and Mauretania are auxiliary warships as well as great merchantmen, and the Admiralty argument in favor of tur- bines holds good concerning them. Each carries twelve 6-in. guns. They would be valuable in time of war as scouts and carriers of high speed and gteat power for carrying food and fighting supplies. As a business prop- osition, for long voyages, and at mod- erate speed, the reciprocating engine continues to be the most suitable and economical propelling machinery. How long this may continue to be so is among the unsolved problems of en- gineering. The: Adriatic, «built for the White Star Jine, was the great British ship of 1906 fitted with recipro- cating engines. The Dreadnought turbines did not work evenly on her trials; but she is now in a satisfactory way, a fact borne out by the decision of the government to build three more of these ships during the current finan- cial year. The engineer and chemist are still at work endeavoring to find the gas that is wanted, reduced from bituminous coal for the gas engine; and progress is made. Here, again, as with the turbine, space saving is a great consideration in favor of the new machinery. Gas turbines are also in men's minds. And the petrol motor is driving old-time smal! craft from their sphere. These motors have al- ready been utilized for torpedo boats and other types of small vessels. A just survey of this field also must leave us satisfied with our inventors,' engi- neers, naval architects and ship build- Crs. WHITE STAR PROMOTIONS. Capt. John D. Cameron, of the White Star liner Oceanic, will probably not make more than one additional trip to this country. The International Mer- cantile Marine Co. have appointed him their general superintendent for the new mid-weekly Atlantic service from South- ampton, and to act in the same capacity for the American line at that port. They have also appointed to the position of superintendent engineer of the-.same ser- vice at Southampton Mr. F. J. Blake, R. NR. oe Capt. Cameron is exceedingly well known in the Atlantic passenger trade. He is a Liverpool man, and was born in that city in 1851. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute, and served his apprenticeship with Messrs. H. Fernie & Sons, of that port. Leaving that firm he spent some years as an officer on the sailing ships of Messrs. Ismay, Imrie & Co. He joined the White Star line as fourth officer in 1877, and in less than seven years he secured the position of commander. He has had charge of most of the principal ships in the White Star line, and was appointed to the command of the Oceanic when she was launched in 1899, and has held that position up to the present time. It was while com- manding the Teutonic in 1895, that the gallant skipper brought his vessel through the terrific blizzard and saved the lives of eleven men on the sinking fishing schooner Josie Reeves. Arriving | off Sandy Hook he found the blizzard raging and decided it was too hazardous to at- tempt port. Putting to sea he fell in with the fishing vessel, which was rapidly sinking. Capt. Cameron ordered boats lowered from the Teutonic to take off 'the imperiled crew, but so fearful was the storm that the rescuers could not reach the schooner. Capt. Cameron kept maneuvering his ship until it sheltered the boats long enough for them to make their way to the sinking fishing boats and take of the imperiled men. For this service the captain received an ap- propriately engraved. watch the Life Saving Service, and each of the rescuers received a medal. Mr. engineer for the company at Liverpool. He is comparatively a young man, be- He is a senior engineer of the Royal Naval Re- serve, from Blake is assistant superintendent ing only in his forty-first year.