The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

92 THe Marine REVIEW cA new Steamer for the Sugar Trade. UT A short. while ago proceeded to sea on her first voyage from the ers -- Sir Raylton of Middlesbrough, England -- a large, handsome steamer of over 7,000 tons deadweight carrying capacity, very specially designed for the sugar trade. She has been built for the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd, of Sydney, New South Wales, which company has practically the monopoly of the sugar trade for the whole of Australia, and also owns enormous areas of sugar cane fields and crushing mills in the Fijian Islands. This vessel named Fiona is built by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co.,-Ltd., on their well known Harroway & Dixon patent system of cantilever construction with top-side tanks. In this case the greater part of these will be utilized for the carriage of molasses in bulk, which will be pumped out by very specially de- signed pumps and delivered by means of fixed 'pipes on shore to large tanks situated some hundreds of feet distant by means of a compressed air service, actuated by a special engine on board the vessel. The 'enormous holds, clear of any obstructions, such as beams, pillars, stringers or web frames with hatchways 30: dt. wide and 42 ft. long, will, be most suitably adapted in the self-trim- ming feature to the carriage of coal from Sydney to the sugar factories in Fiji, and for return with sugar in bags' or in bulk. - Her leading dimensions are 373 ft. x 52. it. 4 im. moulded: and she has .a measurement cargo capacity of over 10,400 tons and will carry a deadweight of over three times her net register tonnage. A large steel house is fitted amidships containing dining saloon, and _ state- rooms, officers' accommodation with captain's cabin above and _ navigating room on top of latter. The engineers are accommodated in cabins at sides of engine casing while the firemen are berthed in poop tween deck aft and crew in forecastle, In the poop tween deck is another large . steel house containing. the air compressor. In this room a special feature is introduced by the fitting up of Dr. Harker's patent fire. extin- yard of her build-_ Dixon, & Co,, Ltd,,: fire. guisher and fumigator, this vessel be- ing the first on which the machine has been installed. Extensive trials on land have proved this apparatus to, be most efficient and its introduction on board ship is looked forward to with consid- erable interest... The common method of extinguishing a fire aboard a steam- er is by the use of steam or by flood- ing the compartment affected, thus damaging the contents, while the Har- ker system abolishes all risk of dam- age to cargo by an ingenious arrange- ment of collecting the flue gas from the funnel, cooling and cleaning same, then forcing it under considerable pres- sure through pipes into the desired compartment thus extinguishing the The machine can also be used to disinfect the vessel and to destroy rodents and in addition can be utilized for the pumping of air throughout the ship. The vessel has unique facilities for loading and discharging her cargo, be- May, 1909 : ing equipped with 3 masts, 10 der. ricks, 8 gaffs, 10 powerful steam winches with frictional ends by Clarke, Chapman & Co, with McFarland's patent clutches specially designed for rapid and economical working. She has also 6 watertight bulkheads, 4 boats, lifeboats fitted with Welin's patent low- ering gear, electric light throughout in- cluding powerful searchlights, large refrigerating and cooling rooms aft. She has been fitted with engines, placed aft, by Messrs. North Eastern Marine Engineering Co. 'Ltd, of Sunderland, having cylinders 25, 42 and 70 by 48 stroke, supplied with steam by 3 large single ended boilers work- ing at 180 lbs. pressure. The Imperial International Exhibi- tion will be. held in London during the present year upon the same site and under the same patronage as the Franko-British Exhibition, which has just closed. The attention of the en- gineering profession of the United States is especially directed to this exhibition. , : PHOTOGRAPH OF A Monet or THE ForWARD SECTION OF THE FIONA,