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54 (which it is noted are of American make), are driven by motors of , 1,000, H:-P., which at. ordinary efficiencies is equal to compressing about 5,700 cu. ft. per minute to 100 pounds, the working pressure employed. The use of air in lake yards goes far beyond these figures. At Lorain for instance, the compressor capacity is in excess of 9,000 ft. per minute, and at Ecorse, when.,the, compress- ors now being installed are complete, the capacity will be over 12,000 ft. per minute. | The working pressure is: - 100: pounds' in allccases:? <1t »must be borne in mind however that at Belfast hydraulic. power. is used ex- tensively for riveting in place. of air, but even so, the combined power of both air and hydraulic plants falls THE Marine REVIEW far short- of either of the yards men- tioned when it is considered besides that they do not approach the Bel- fast yard in tonnage capacity, and that of the 800 H. P. of the hydraulic plant a large part is absorbed by the engine works and boiler shops. The power absorbed in air com- pressing at Lorain and Ecorse is about 1,600 and 2,100 respectively, all of which goes into hull construc- tion, 'Wile .it.is true that. the. hy- draulic plant is in some respects more efficient than -air, its cost and Jack of flexibility make it not only unprofita- ble but undesirable for all 'but excep- tional work. The statement is made that hydraulic riveting. has been found the more economical, but while this may have proved to be the case at Belfast,' it is contrary to all ex. perience in this country, and it is most probably due to failure to realize the possibilities of air tools. First class work has been done, and jg done here on boiler work, on rivets up to 1%-in. diameter, with air tools; above that hydraulic driving is stil] preferable. A complete hydraulic plant having. sufficient capacity. to drive rivets at the rate customary here would be an enormous invest- ment in itself, even if it were other- wise feasible. It is recognized fully that there is much work at Belfast of a-heavier nature than any coming to either of the yards mentioned, but the proportion of hand-driven rivets must still be much higher there than in any of the lake yards. Launching the Daniel B. Meacham. As distinguished a gathering as ever attended a lake launching witnessed the putting overboard of the bulk freighter Daniel B. Meacham at the Ecorse yard of the Great Lakes Engi- neering Works on Saturday last. The members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in session at Detroit attended the launching in a body .as the guests of the ship build- ing company. The company had char- tered the new excursion steamer Brit- annia to convey the guests to the ship yard. En route a pennant bearing the emblem of the organization was flown atthe bow of the Britannia. The steamer anchored in the stream di- rectly. opposite the launching slip so that everyone aboard had a_ perfect view of the event. The new steamer was christened by Miss Eliza Jane Kennedy, daughter of Julian Kennedy, of Pittsburg, the well-known engineer, and was named in honor of Mr. Mea- cham, who is.a member :of the frm of Rogers, Brown & Co. Regret was expressed that Mr. Meacham was not present. Ete is on a European trip but was represented by his son, kh. B. Meacham. As usual, the launching was 'successful in every way, as is borne out by the pictures accompany- ing this article. The launching party was tendered a luncheon at the Detroit Club at the conclusion of the launching. Presi- co fhe C. Pessano presided and introduced Harvey L. Br ite falo, as es Ba ign ae extremely felicitous sion. Mr. Brown was upon. this occa- His introductory speech was extremely amusing, including an ex- cellent -story upon the Original ship builder, Noah. He was amusingly MR. DANIEL B, MEACHAM.