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158 DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY INTEREST CONNECTED OR _ ASSO- CIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published monthly by The Penton Publishing Co. CLEVELAND. BUPFEALO. <2.0.2.-25-3 5s 932 Ellicott Square. CHICAGO: 2.5555. 255. 1328 Monadnock Bik. CINCINNATI. =... First National Bank Bldg. NEW VORE..3..2<.- 1005 West Street Bldg. PITTSBURG. (55000 veoc ee. 510 . Park ~ Bldg. MATTIE oe ce sete let: 302 Pioneer Bldg. Correspondence on Marine Engineering, Ship Building and Shipping Subjects Solicited. and Mexico, $1.00 per Foreign, $2.00. 10 cents. over Subscription, U. 5S. annum. Canada, $1.50. § Single copies, U. S. and_ Mexico, Elsewhere, 145 cents. Back numbers three months, 25 cents. Change of advertising copy must reach this office on or before the first of each month. The Cleveland News Co. will supply the trade with the Marine Review through the regular channels of the American News Co. European Agents, The International News Company, Breams Building, Chancery Lane, London, E. C., England. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, as Second Class Matter. June, 1909. THE FACTS ABOUT THE TUR- BINE. The Martine Review has consistent- ly opposed the views so widely held as to the adaptability of the steam turbine to a wide fie!d of service in marine propulsion, and has, on several occasions, taken issue with them, even though apparentiy upheld by those who might be assumed to Probably this 'condition is in no.small measure due fo the rounding the the being made in speak with knowledge. peculiar circumstances sur- early development of turbine, its earliest applications types of vessels es- pecially designed for speed and thus somewhat giving it a spectacular en- "tree. Had the first turbine installe- .tions been made. in vessels 'of the cargo type, it would in all probability have passed quietly away, Pout its success led, not only its sponsors but the lay public, to the making - THe Marine REVIEW ° ~ of extravagant claims on the one hand and indulging hopeless expecta- tions on the other, which could not possibly be fulfilled. Fuel cost was to be cut in two; weights were to be greatly reduced; space require- 'ments would be cut down and vibra- tion would be unheard ob lt. we except torpedo boats and naval ves- sels and high speed express steam- "ers, no one of these claims has been made good, and only partially in their case. The history of the turbine afloat has been shrouded 'in mystery and mis-statement. Clams as. to' fuel economy have been made persistently which never have been reached, and the figures quoted have included the which a necessary part of the steam plant and which cannot be separated from it, and which are invariably included even not auxiliaries are in reports of the performance of re- ciprocating engines. Nether is there at hand any even approximately ac- actual perform- curate record of ance. Feed water has been es- timated from pump. displacement, and coal from bunker measure- ments or from counting baskets as dumped on the fire hold floor. Such data falls a long way short of the vast amount of accurate information avail- able from reciprocating engines, and the question of propeller efficiency, which is really the final word on the whole question, has been avoided. As to vibration in particular, the turbine failure has been lamenta- ble, though this been expected, since those who made was only to have the claims did so without knowledge of the true conditions, and are only now acquiring it at the cost of bitter experience, though warned times with- This covered at length heretofore, and shall out number. point we have again refer to it in the near future in connection with the general sub- ject of engine balancing and hull vi- bration. Turbine practice has been rela- tively limited in the United States marine, though enormous in sta- tionary work, and the extensive ex- perience of our friends in Europe is, studiously . June, 1909. therefore, of great value. We, there- fore, commend attention to the artj- cle on "Marine Steam Turbines," from the London Engineer printed in full elsewhere. We think some of the information therein and_ the conclusions to be inevitably drawn will be in the nature of a rude sur- It must be admitted to be eminently fair and might easily prise to many. be extended to make it an even poor- er case for the turbine, as, for in- stance, in pointing out that so far from the turbine displacing the ordi- nary or piston type in commercial the the latter now comes to the rescue vessels, even in liner > class, of the turbine, as in the case of the Otaki, Parsons, Laurentic and the elsewhere Mr. long ago as 1907, unwillingly admitted referred to. only so this to be the best arrangement (for the turbine), while Prof. Rateau, of France, recommended and advised the plan at least five years earlier, but to deaf provement in propulsion of the liner ears. Economies and im- and the cargo carrier will come and probably sooner than many _ think, but when it does come, even the strong- not by the turbine route, and hold of the turbine, the naval ves- sel, will be lost to. it. IMPROVEMENTS IN' BOILER DESIGN AND THE STEAM- BOAT INSPECTION LAWS. : Structurally speaking the most per- fect piece of apparatus is that com- posed of the fewest parts, and one Of the or the signer is his ability to achieve his marks successful de- ends with the simplest forms, keep- ing in mind of course comparative Costs... A one of the structures where simplicity, steam boiler, however, 1s represented by reduced number of Marts. even at enhanced cost, is not only justifiable, but much to be de- sired, because every such reduction means elimination of seams and rivets the "unavoidable Thus, if we could build our in one and weakest sec- tion." boiler piece we would not only have the structurally "perfect product, but the lightest and safest at the same time.