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July, 1909 ALPENA'S TRIAL TRIP. On May 25 a test was made on the new steamer Alpena, recently com- pleted by the Detroit Ship Building Co. for the Michigan Alkali Co., of Wyandotte, Mich., to demonstrate her speed and coal consumption under loaded conditions. The steamer is 374 ft. long over all, 356 ft. between perpendiculars, 47 ft. beam and 26 ft. deep molded. ,She is designed for the special trade of carrying crushed lime- stone from Alpena to Wyandotte and is equipped with her own unloading machinery which is capable of deliv- ering her cargo on the dock at the rate of 900 tons-per hour. The pro- pelling machinery consists of a quad- ruple, four-crank engine having cylin- ders 17% in., 251% in., 3/7 in., 54 in, with a piston stroke of 36 in. The engine is arranged with the low pres- sure cylinder forward, the second in- termediate aft and the high pressure and first intermediate between. The low pressure and second intermediate cylinders have double ported slide valves driven direct by double bar _link motion, the high pressure and first intermediate valves being placed on the front of the engine and actuat- ed by "Joy" gear. The whole design is particularly compact, the working parts being all easily accessible and all wearing surfaces large and adjust- able. The air bilge and cooler pumps are attached to the main engine. Steam is supplied by two Scotch boilers 13 ft. 2 in. diameter by 11 ft. 6 in. long at a working pressure of 210 Ibs. per sq. in. Each boiler has two 48-in. corrugated furnaces, the combus- tion chambers being separate. The Howden system of hot draft 'is fitted, the air being supplied by a "Sirocco" fan direct connected to an American Blower Co. engine. The Propeller is foutr-bladed, 12 ft: 8: in: diameter and 13 ft. pitch: On the up trip the steamer in light trim made an average speed between Fort Gratiot and Thunder Bay of 13.55 miles per hour, the engines making 98 R. P. M. The contract conditions called for a speed of 11% miles per hour when loaded to a mean draught of 18 ft., and a coal consumption not to exceed 1.3 Ibs. per I. H.-P. per hour, using coal of not more than 13,500 B. T. U. per Ib. The rate of burning not to exceed 22.5 Ibs. per sq. ft. of grate per hour, and the engines to develop the neces- Saty power with a maximum revolu- tion of 95 per minute. The steamer was loaded at Alpena with as much stone as the compara- tively shallow channel would allow, and then came to anchor in the bay TAE Marine REVIEW where the water bottom was filled sufficiently to bring her down to a mean draught of 18 ft. The speed test was made from Thun- der Bay to Fort Gratiot and no at- tempt was made to force the machin- ery, the revolutions being set as near as possible to give the required 11% miles per hour. The runastaken from the captain's log was 14014 miles in 12 hours and 6 minutes or an average speed of 11.54 miles per hour. The I, H.. P. from cards taken every 30 minutes averaged 1,398 and the revo- lutions per minute 93.18. The machin- ery ran during the whole test without a suspicion of heating and there was a complete absence of vibration to the hull. The coal was weighed for six hours during the test by a representative of the Michigan Alkali Co. and all the fires were cleaned once during that period. The coal was rather poor in quality, being about 70 per cent slack and showed on analysis a heat value of 12,855 B. 1..U. per Ib with 13 per cent of ash. 'The total coal. consumed in. six hours was 10,980 Ibs. or at. the rate of 1,830 lbs. per hour. Lhis gives a consumption of exactly 1.3 lbs. per L.-H. P. per hour, which, taking into account the quality of the coal and the fact that the test was made at night with the electric generator running during the whole six hours of coal weighing, shows the propelling outfit to be a remarkably economical one. The coal burned per sq. ft. of grate was at the rate of 21.78 Ibs. per hour, and the I. H.-P. per. sq.ft. oF erate was 16.64. The Michigan Alkali Co. have ex- pressed themselves as highly satisfied with the performance of the new steamer and are to be congratulated on such an efficient and economical addition to their fleet. NEW STEAMERS FOR WILSON LINE. The Harlan & Hollingsworth Cur- poration, Wilmington, Del. are bu'ld- ing two steel single screw steamers for the Wilson line for express pas- senger and freight service between Philadelphia and Wilmington. The vessels are to be 205 ft. over all, about 190 ft. on water line, 40 ft. beam over guards, 32 ft. beam molded and 11 ft. 4 in. depth molded. The forward part of main deck will be reserved for freight and will be covered with a steel house with three cargo ports each side. At after end of main deck will be the main entrance hall with purser's and captain's offices abaft, similar to the arrangement on bo i) un the steamers Brandywine and City of Chester, the outstanding feature of the new ships being the amount of steel which has taken place of wood, mak- ing the new vessels more sanitary and less combustible. A stairway from main hall and from fore end of main deck leads to saloon deck. The saloon is a large space enclosed in a light steel house having large windows. which afford a clear view to passen- gers sitting well inboard. The seats in this saloon are arranged athwart- ship, somewhat like a _ railroad car. This saloon deck is carried aft to stern and forward to stem, forming a large space for passengers outside of saloon itself. The after part of this open deck is shaded by the boat deck, while the fore part is exposed but protects the forward main deck space. Two stairways lead from saloon deck. to boat deck where the pilot house and officers' quarters are located. The boats are also carried on this deck. A large space is left clear for sitting or promenading and the greater part of the deck is shaded by an awning. On the lower deck forward is crew space and abaft machinery on same deck space is provided for a cate, Ihe hulls of the vessels are larger than the older vessels and will be steered by steam steering gears. Machinery will consist of a triple-expansion engine, steam being supplied by two cylindri- cal boilers. The vessel will be lit by electricity and a large search light will be fitted. The vessels are designed to maintain the same speed as the old- er vessels, but being larger and heav- ier they have more power and should be able to keep up the schedule with train-like punctuality. SUBMARINES LAUNCHED. The submarine torpedo boats Bonito, Snapper and Grayling were launched from the yard of the Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, Mass., on Wed- nesday, June 16. The Grayling was christened by Miss Katherine Bowles, daughter of Rear Admiral Francis T. Bowles, president of the Fore River Ship Building Co. The Bonito was christened by Mrs. J. C. Townsend, wife of Lieut. Townsend, now sta- tioned at the Fore River yard. The Bonito after going part way down the ways stopped and was not launched until the following day at 10 o'clock. The Snapper was christened by Miss Alice Nicoll, niece of L. Y. Spear, vice president and general manager of the Electric Boat Co. The Bonito and Snapper are duplicates of the Tarpon and Stingray which were launched some time ago, and the Grayling is a duplicate of the Narwhal.