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

94 Tae Marine REVIEW cfcer and engineer. To put it another way, nine men are carried in bay service and eleven at sea. The crew of the average steam schooner of equivalent, - capacity consists of from 15 to 18 men in ocean esrvice. Contra Costa and her companion, Benicia, were both designed by John Haug, naval architect for the Standard Oil Co. and were built under his super- vision. peoqqing UyeyD WEpooM 90 Barge Benicia. ' The steel, twin-screw, gas-powered barge Benicia was built at the Standard Oil refinery at Point Richmond, Cal. in 1905-06. Her machinery was also built by the Union Gas Engine Co., of East Oakland, Cal. In general, Benicia is similar in consttuction and equipment to "Contra 'Costa, "She is': 140" ft in length between perpendiculars, 33 ft. molded beam and 7 ft. 6 in. molded depth. Her load draught is 500 gross tons. She has a cargo capacity of 88,000 gallons of oil, weighing 310 gross tons. Accommodations for a crew consisting of a captain, two engineers, one oiler, two deck hands and one cook, seven men all told, are 'provided in a deck house forward and in the forecastle for- ward under the main deck. mie sie cateo tanks are formed' by 2.1. 4 ee four transverse and one _ longitudinal 'steel bulkhead, collision bulkheads being fitted forward and aft. Each of the two main engines, with three single-acting cylinders 13 in. diam- eter, 14 in. stroke, develop 125 B. H. P. at 300 R. P. M. The engines are coupled to three-blade bronze propellers, 4 ft. G in. diameter,' 3° ft. 6 am. pitch, tie pitch ratio being 0.78. 'One 30-H. P., two-cylinder Union en- gine driving a Gould rotary pump hav- ing a capacity of 21,000 gallons per hour under normal conditions is used to dis- charge cargo. The same engine also 'drives a generator, furnishing electricity for light and power. The performance of these boats has been quite remarkable. They have been ' steadily at work for over two years. Very little trouble has been experienced 'and the machinery has proven itself re- liable and dependable at all times. The fuel consumption of the engines is from One-ninth to one-tenth gallon of No. 1 'engine distillate per brake horsepower - hour. With distillate at 9 cents per gallon (Seattle prices) the fuel cost of operating Contra Costa for 10 hours, assuming the maximum consumption given above, is $49.25, AAS T tec t ric. 1--LONGITUDINAL SECTION AND Deck PLAN oF GaAS-PoWER BARGE CONTRA CoSsTA. \|!Under! uel; Tank | Ia eave 1 ss >~10!sh Comparison with Steamers. ~ I comparing the gas-power barges with equivalent steamers, the Standard Oil Co. makes the following statements: 1. The weight and space of