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1902.] MARINE REVIEW. 19 STANDARDIZATION OF PARTS. The advantages of standardization of parts are so many and so obvi- ous that it would seem superfluous to argue in their favor; and yet the system is only beginning to be adopted in Great Britain. To be just, however, it was an Englishman who first pointed out to manufacturers the great economy of a system of standard fittings. It is just now becom- ing a subject of serious consideration by the British admiralty and war office, as the following editorial from the London Times will show: "The favorable reception given by Mr. Balfour to the deputation which lately waited upon him on the subject of engineering standards, as reported by us a day or two ago, and his announcement that both the war office and the admiralty were prepared heartily to co-operate with the efforts of the eminent committee which approached him on the subject are full of promise for some of those departments of British industry which of late years have been most seriously threatened by foreign com- petition. Few people have any adequate conception of the waste of money, of time, and of material which is consequent upon the employment of all manner of irregular shapes and sizes in various kinds of construct- ive work; and the evils hence arising--although attention was first called to them by an eminent Englishman more than sixty years ago--have been tolerated in this country with an indifference or supineness which has not been displayed elsewhere. It was in 1841 that the late Sir Joseph Whit- worth pointed out the inconvenience constantly arising from the different patterns of screws then employed by different makers of machinery, with the result that a machine in some distant part of the world might be crip- pled for want of a single screw, and might remain so until sufficient time had been given to send to the workshop of the original maker for the supply of the deficiency. He proposed that manufacturers should agree upon a uniform size and pitch of thread for every diameter of screw or of aperture, and was promptly met by the contention that the form used in every workshop was, in some point or other, better than the rest. Firm A would not use the screws used by firm B, and firm C would have nothing 'to do with those of either. But the shrewd and patient north country- man was not easily discouraged. He evaded the difficulty by producing the exact mean of several patterns used by the most eminent 'firms, and his proposal was adopted by acclamation. He had so far foreseen this result as to have quietly prepared machinery for dealing with it, and when the standard screws were accepted he was at once in a position to supply the tools necessary for cutting them. His attention was soon after di- verted to other subjects, but he constantly regretted his inability to deal with other things as he had dealt with screws, and was never weary of- expatiating upon the advantages which would accrue to British industry from the national adoption of a sufficient variety of standard sizes in all departments of manufacture. His favorite object lesson was furnished by a candle wabbling loosely in a candlestick, and only rendered firm by a band of paper, or by one requiring to be scraped before it could be fixed; and he would ask why candle makers should not agree as to the number of sizes required by consumers, and why every No. 1 British candle should not fit easily and correctly into every No. 1 British candle- stick. The iron and timber parts of buildings, such as girders, doors, door frames, window sashes, and the like, moved him to wrath by: their diversity; and he was accustomed to maintain that the convenience which would be afforded to purchasers by the general adoption of a proper num- ber of English standards, and by accurate working to them, would be sufficient to give something like monopoly of,the trade in every branch of manufacture in which the principle was carried into effect. "Perhaps, the first important step toward action upon Whitworth's principles was taken some years ago by an association representing the principal railroads of America, which had for one of its objects the attain- ment of uniformity in the patterns of rails and in the parts of locomotives. This association set itself-to determine, for example, how many patterns of locomotives' were required for the various demands of traffic--for ex- press engines, goods engines, shunting engines, and so forth--and how these might be made in the most economical and practical way. The result was, certain patterns having been adopted by all the companies- included in the association, that manufacturers were able to work for stock at times when they had no orders in hand, and to do this without danger of finding themselves burdened with wnsalable goods. An inci- dental consequence was, of course, comparative cheapness of manufac- ture, and that in a degree which speedily made itself felt when railways outside America were coming into the market as purchasers, and were content to deny themselves the luxury of engines which had been 'specially designed' by their own officials. Mr. Balfour told the deputation not only that 'the advantages of standardization were obvious,' but also 'that no human being could have a doubt as to the magnitude and the im- portance of the subject,' and that, as far as he could offer an opinion, he entirely agreed with the views placed before him by the members of the deputation. These are strong expressions, and the majority of people will think them entirely justified by facts; but it is nevertheless true that these same views have been urged by a few persons for a great number of years, and that so far they do not appear to have met with a degree of accept- ance at all commensurate either with their truth or with their importance. The case has too often been like that of the diversity of screws, but with no Whitworth to suggest the happy mean by which individual claims or pretentions could be reconciled. Every designer has been wishful to have 'his own' pattern of some appliance in general, or perhaps universal, de- mand--a pattern a little thicker or a little thinner than that usually employed, and perhaps only representing a maximum of cost in combina- tion with a minimum of advantage. "A variety of circumstances, however, have lately combined to force the question of standardization upon British engineers and mechanics, foremost among them being the recent discussion as to the supply of loco- motives to Indian railways and the enormous demand which has lately arisen for various kinds of electrical machinery. The merit of perceiving and of acting upon the favorable opportunity is largely attributable to Sir John Wolfe-Barry, whose plea for reform has been taken up by the Insti- tution of Civil Engineers, with the co-operation of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Naval Architects and the Iron and Steel Institute, and has led to the formation of a very strong com- mittee, comprising many of the most eminent names among the leading members of these bodies, with a recent addition of representatives from the Institution of Electrical Engineers. It follows that the movement is now being backed by all the leading technical societies of the country, and is being controlled by practical men who are in touch with the re- quirements of the engineering professions and trades. It may therefore be reasonably expected to be marked by a sufficient flexibility of adapta- tion to altered circumstances, so that the opposite errors of too great readiness to discard the old and of too great reluctance to adopt the new may both be effectually guarded against. It would be quite possible, of course, to erect an undue worship of standardization into a barrier against improvement, or against the adoption of modifications which the real needs of actual or potential customers might require; but any such danger appears to be much diminished by the lines on which the committee and its subcommittees have been constituted. It is a matter for great con- gratulation that the principal manufacturing or purchasing departments of the government should be brought into touch with the movement, so that these departments when placing their contracts may recognize the standards laid down by the committees. There is much reason to believe that the war office and the admiralty have in past times done a good deal to hinder the progress of manufacture by an obstinate adherence to methods or to demands which might with advantage have been suffered to become obsolete, and which would have been greatly modified in deal- ing with any private consumer. The more completely the spending de- partments can be brought into touch with ordinary requirements the better it will be alike for the manufacturer and for the taxpayer; and the more hearty the co-operation of the government with the movement which has elicited from Mr. Balfour expressions of cordial approval; the more rapidly will the pessimists among us be relieved of the anxiety con- cerning foreign competition which they have lately had some ground both for feeling and for expressing. The British empire has conducted a grea: war to a triumphant issue, and its sons must now gird themselves for equal efforts in the competitions of peace." ENGLISH AND AMERICAN RAILWAY RATES. The following letter in the London Times from Mr. George S. Gibb, general manager of the North Eastern railway, upon English and Ameri- can railroad rates, will prove very interesting as it is at variance with the prevailing opinion upon this subject: "Will you let me prick a bubble in your columns? At least, I think it is a bubble. American railroad rates, people say, are lower than Eng- lish railroad rates. That the average rate per ton per mile for all goods traffic carried on American railroads is lower than the average rate on - English railroads is indisputable. But this general and true statement is converted in many minds into an incorrect belief that English railroads charge more for services they actually perform than American railroads charge for similar services. The average rate per ton per mile on all trafic carried is a. misleading figure. If one is in search of bare truth, one must examine the component parts of the average. The American average is reduced by the inclusion of rates on large quantities carried for very long distances, a kind of traffic that does not exist in England in proportions large enough to affect the average. It must also be re- membered that a large percentage of English rates include, whilst all American rates exclude, the services of collection and delivery. "The only sound way to make a comparison is to take concrete in- stances, and to show by them what is charged on an English railroad for a specified quantity of any commodity carried for a specified distance, in comparison with the American railroad charge for a similar quan- tity of similar traffic carried for a similar distance. Ameri- can traders send their traffic in large consignments; English traders do not. I have more than once asked individual traders whether a large- quantity rate would be useful to them, but have invariably been discour- aged from further conversation by their replies. Yet the same people on festive occasions thump the table to the theme that the difference between English and American rates constitutes an oppression of English trade. The fact is, that for the quantities in which English traders actually con- sign their traffic, and for usual English distances, English rates are lower than American. It will give definite illustrations of my assertion, which | have carefully verified by personal investigation, and my illustrations will be drawn from one of the largest railroad corporations in the eastern states of America and from the North Eastern railway in England. "The following table gives the rates per ton for conveyance of a con- signment of five tons of the undermentioned articles (excluding collection and delivery), carried between two stations 42 miles from each other: : American Englis Article of Merchandise rate. rate. 8 d. 87d Bricks (common): ::¢ic.250 2. 12.2.2 46 Cement: 022.0 eo 8.25 5 10 Flour in sacks uc e556 7.6 6° 8 Mealt.in. bags ...c. 0 te eG mi ad Oilcake ..05.05i pba. ee 7 8 6-8 Potatoes in bags .....;iccis15 3 8.24 6.08 Plates.and bars (iron and steel).......;:.......: 8 6 50 Stone (rough). (building)..-.07.7.37.)5.15.55..33.. 8 6 od Ale wo. cece vase de dss oe 2g 10: 30 "These figures represent actual charges on the usual scale, not ex- ceptional rates. I have selected a distance slightly in excess of the aver- age haul for all goods traffic carried on the North Eastern railway, name- ly, 3514 miles, as I am anxious not to overstate the case, but the differ- ences would have been more in favor of the English rates if shorter dis- stances had been taken. For example, the rate for five tons of bricks on the American railroad for a distance of 21 miles is 8s, 5d., as against 2s. 9d. on the North Eastern. The list might be extended indefinitely, but it is better to make it short, clear, and definite." The twin-screw steam yacht Arrow, owned by Charles R. Flint and built to attain a maximum speed of 40 miles an hour, beat the racer Mon- mouth of the Sandy Hook line in a race from New York to the Atlantic Highlands last,Saturday. Over the course of 21 miles the Arrow beat the Monmouth just about eleven minutes. She had only one of her. boilers coupled at the time. The Arrow's engines are quadruple-expansion and were designed by.C. D. Mosher. They can develop 4,500 H.P. She has two water-tube boilers. ; ttf Vessels launched in the district of Bath during the first half of 1902 aggregate more than 17,000 tons gross. (