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16 Mi Ace Meteo No ot THE PARISIAN'S INJURIES - On Saturday, March 25, while the Allan line steamer Paris- jan and the Hamburg-American line steamer Albano were entering Halifax, N.'S., harbor BoE Meron deen WV other than stationary plants. As a prime mover where cheap gas could be supplied, it could make a most important show- ing; but it was not sug egested that the gas engine could cut "loose from a_ stationary gas they collided with great forée, the latter boat crashing into the 1-H starboard quarter of the for- 2.45 mer, cutting an immense hole through which the water pour- ed in a flood, necessitating such a run for the pier as has never before been witnessed in Hali- fax harbor, and seldom, per- haps never, in any other port in the world. Imagine, if you can, a 6,000-ton steamer, load- ed with frantic passengers, set- tling by the stern and with her bow away out of the water, rushing up a land-locked har- bor full of shipping at the rate of 15 or 16 knots per hour. That is what the Parisian did and so little tinie had she to spare that her stern post touch- ed bottom ten minutes after she had tied to the wharf and in a few hours she was resting in the mud. The collision hap- pened after the Parisian had stopped to pick up a pilot. The Albano, a 3,000-ton steamer, also loaded with passengers, was lumbering along behind at a fair rate of speed. Through some error of judgment she was allowed to approach. too near, and when the danger was _ noticed it was too late to stop. She blew three whistles, which in the language of the road, meant that she was going astern full speed, but her engines had not turned over many times before the crash came, her bow sinking well into the Parisian's side. \ GAS PRODUCER AND ENGINE FOR MARINE USE By George E. Walsh The development of the gas engine from small horse-power units dependent upon city gas for fuel to the modern producer gas engines sanging from one thousand horse-power upward has steadily widened the field of service for this form of power production. So long as the engine was adapted only to the utilization of rich city gas it could not compete with steam except in a few very limited fields where small horse-power units were needed. The improvement of the gas engine so that it could burn with equal facility the relatively poor blast furnace and producer gases immediately opened a wide future for it. In the past year or two efforts to combine gas engines with producer plants so that the simple conversion of coal into gas for use in the former could go on continuously and almost automatically have resulted in important revolutionizing changes. The gas engine has become a power producer as - portable in nature as steam, and its relatively high efficiency and economy of operation promises much for the future. The most recent adaptation, of the gas producer and gas en- gine as a combined power producing plant has been iad in railroad and marine fields. Until very recently it was never supposed that gas engines could compete with steam in any THE HOLE IN THE PARISIAN'S THE STEAMER WAS IN DRY DOCK AT HALIFAX tank and producer plant. » The only alternative was to oa construct a portable gas pro- a) 47 ducer, which would supply con- tinuous fitel for the engine, and U% the accomplishment of this idea has proved one of the most im- ~ portant developments of this type of prime mover. Efforts have been directed toward the development of the idea by the marine experts in the Ameri- can and German navy, and by the Thornycrofts, of England. The saving of space on ships has been one of the most im- portant factors in the problem, am and the economy and efficiency 4 of operation have also proved of vast significance. The modern marine produc- er-gas plant consists of a gen- erator of fuel, and the gas en- gine or motor for driving the machinery. The combination of the two make a complete plant in which many of the equipments of a steam engine are abolished. In the produc- er-gas plant and engine ex- perimented with by the Thor- nycrofts, a ten horse-power engine has been run continu- ously for many days at as low a cost as two cents per hour. The automatic operation of the plant dispenses with a good deal of high-priced labor, and the low cost of maintenance cuts down the expense of operation to a low figure. The gas producer of the modern type consists of a large firebrick-lined drum placed above a water reservoir, and the fuel generated is a combination of producer and water gas. The coal is fed from above, and as it falls down into the grate it is automaticaly distributed so that at no time is there a sudden change in the quantity or temperature of the gases produced. The air-blast from below is accompanied by a jet of steam, which has the double purpose of reducing the temperature inside and of softening and breaking up the clinkers and ashes. A water reservoir is built inside of the drum in a conical shape, and the gases flow through this above. A cooler is supplied to reduce the high temperature of the gas, and no part of the gas can escape without coming in contact with a water jet which cools it and carries off im- purities. The generator is furnished with scrubbing and other me- chanical devices for refining the gas, and when the fuel finally emerges from the centrifugal driers and churns it is ready for immediate combustion in the engine. The gas is not high grade, such as used for illuminating purposes, but it is rich enough for burning in the modern gas engine with large cylinder capacity. The average quality of the gas generated in such a producer is 137 British thermal units per cubic foot. The modern large cylinder gas engines are designed to utilize gas of only 135 British thermal units per cubic foot, and in fact many of them can burn with economy weak blast S SIDE AS SEEN WHILE