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58 was impaled on one of the numerous rocks that projected through the ledges in this dangerous locality. As a heavy sea began running from the westward, jettisoning was resumed. In this case the was precarious as the heavy seas made her jump three or four feet Favorite's position. TAeE MarRINE REVIEW with only 17 ft. of water beneath her. At 3:30 o'clock, Dec. 16, the Davidson was released and the Fa- vorite took her to Port Huron with- out the usual aids to navigation, the ranges and other lights being out. Her last job of all was raising the tug Yale at Buffalo. The Michener Automatic Coal Trimming Device for Steamship Bunkers Doubtless one of the most disagree- able features of steam navigation is the coaling problem. Immediately upon the arrival in port of one of our great ocean liners, she must be given over for a_ series of days to the begriming control of the coal- AUTOMATIC TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SHIPS' BUNKERS ing gangs. To load, stow and trim her complement of fuel for the re- turn voyage, and often for a round trip, 1s the first of all important re- quirement. A vessel can sail without cargo or passengers but not without fuel. It is customary in our large Ameri¢an ports to bring loaded coal barges alongside, both on the off side of the vessel and also between the vessel and the dock, and usually by means of buckets and hoists to raise the coal and dump it into the several coal ports along each side of the ves- sel. Then gangs of grimy men are sent into the dark and unventilated bunkers to shovel the coal away from the portholes and distribute it evenly in the bunkers so that no space be wasted. It is obvious that this work requires more brawn than brain and that the men employed in such dust-laden atmosphere are in- clined to slight their task and to leave many places empty that should be THE MICHENER STOWAGE COMPANY 90 WEST ST NEW YORK filled with coal. .Also the class of men that are willing to do this work contains much of the dregs of hu- 'manity and comprises elements that are at times exceedingly difficult to manage. The enormous increase in the size of ocean steamships during the past 20 years has of course increased their coal consuming capacity propor- tionately. The well nigh insatiable greed of their furnaces has brought the coaling problem to an acute con- dition and the dock superintendent and ship's officers always feel a defin- ite .load. lifted from their. shoulders when their complement of coal is safely loaded and trimmed. The urgent need of means for super- seding or materially reducing the ex- pense and uncertainty incident to the employment of human labor in coaling ships has long been apparent and the frequent strikes of dock laborers has rendered the elimination of this class of labor for so important a task as coaling almost imperative. With these ends in view inventors have been for many years active in attempting the solution of the various problems in- volved. Numerous patents have been sranted, particularly for apparatus to lift the coal iron: che barge to the ship's porthoies and some of that ap- paratus has met with more or less success, but until recently practically no means had been devised for trim- ming the coal within the bunkers and thereby eliminating human labor from a highly obnoxious environment and one in which it is very difficult to induce even: the lowest class of men to work. About ¢a > yeat ago. john: Michener Jr., of Philadelphia and New York, who has been identified with a number of manufacturing en- terprises, had these coaling problems brought very forcibly to his atten- tion in connection with a company to which he was giving some of his time. Mr. Michener was so impressed with the needs of this enormous field and the splendid returns that were bound to accrue to anyone who _ provided even partial relief from the present burdens of coaling ships, that he as promptly as could be retired from the activities in which he was then en- gaged and forthwith devoted substan- tially all of his time and energies to the solution of the problem of ships' coaling, particularly the mat- ter of trimming the bunkers. With- out going into the details of the months of work expended in originat- ing and developing his ideas and the various discouragements encountered, it is sufficient to state that he at last completed a successful working model, built to a reduced scale, that does so fully accomplish the whole of the de- sired result that he really feels as though his ambitions in this direc- tion were realized. In the diagrams accompanying. this article are the essential fea- tures of the invention, but all details of shown construction and means for driving have been = omitted. Fig, 1 is.a plan. view.. just~ under the deck to which the elevating appar- atus is attached and corresponding wih the sectional line A of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the center of the elevating apparatus . &