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14 THe Marine REVIEW Kee. PLATE OF THE WHITE STAR LINER OLYMPIC. -~ Olympic and Titanic. CTUAL construction work on the new White Star Line sea- giant Olympic (45,000) is pro- ceeding steadily at Belfast, and the keel of the companion vessel Ti- tanic will shortly be laid. In the gigantic new. twin-gantries--the immense cradles destined to hold these superb. ves- sels--the 'builders, Harland & Wolff, will rear these two largest steamers even constructed. The accompanying view. is' interesting because it illus- trates the primal constructive work, that of laying the keel and the keel center plates, which is being accom- plished in the most modern fashion by electrical machinery. One im- provement along this line is that in- stead of the noise of the traditional "boiler shop", the thousands of rivets that bind together the 860 ft. of keel plates are being placed without the rat-a-tat-tat so familiar to those who have heard it employed in the con- struction of steel 'buildings. This is the more wonderful when it is con- sidered that each riveting machine, weighing over seven 'tons, is susipend- ed from the gantry frame and man- aged by two workmen, and is easily moved to any position, either longitudinal, athwartship, or position and can 'be adjusted with the greatest precision. It speaks well both for the White Star Line and the builders that Harland & Wolff in constructing about 50 steamers which have successfully navigated "the seven i. a vertical seas" flying the well-known red _ pen- nant with its famous white star, have gained an enviable record of contin- ual progress, each succeeding vessel outstripping its predecessors, and rep- presenting the latest and _ highest attainments in ship ibuilding. BELGIAN ENGINEER HONORED. P. J. Goetbloet, neer and president of the Society of (Cercle des Mechaniciens de Marine Belge), consulting engi- Belgian Marine Engineers has again been the recipient of signal honors, having Knight of the order granted recently been made a Order of Leopold, an only for conspicuous The official notification bears the signature-of the king, and the letter of His Majesty's secretary reads as follows: M. Goetbloet, president of the Society of Belgian Marine Engineers. service to the country. By Royal Decree, "Tt is for me an immense pleasure to have the honor of transmitting to you the orders I have received from His Majesty, King Leopold the Second, promoting you a. Knight of His Order......" A committee of members of the society was formed to arrange for proper recognition of the honor be- stowed on its president, the result be- iiuc April, 1999 ing that he was presented with a bust of himself in marble. The Shipown- er' - Federations, Lloyds, Bureay Veritas and other important bodies also took occasion to present suitable tokens of their esteem. In the course of his remarks at the banquet which followed, M. Goe blcet said that he had rather have received the news from Brussels that the Belgian cer- tificate of competercy fcr marine en- gineers sailing on Pelgian ships had become compulsory, but, nevertheless, he was pleased that the honor had been bestowed on him as president of the society. M. Goetbloet is member of sever- al prominent engineering and scien- societies and has been the re- cipient of numerous medals and hon- ors as recognition of his work in the PRESIDENT SOCIETY OF gale GOETBLOET, BELGIAN MARINE ENGINEERS. held "of research and 4s consulting engineer. He was largely instrumental in developing the So- ciety of Belgian Mavine Engineers. scientific The unexpended balance of the fund known as the Geneva Award for: pay- ment of the Alabama claims is $11,448.06.