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July, 1910 could not deliver a single ton of coal They would burn up all the coal that could at Puget Sound at trial speed. possibly be stowed in the bunkers and cargo holds to get them there at that speed. Mr. Loud states that the two col- liers of the Cyclops class are his ideal of what naval colliers should be. Well, the Cyclops, for which Mr. Loud is in a measure responsible, is a more sen- sible collier than either the Prome- theus or Vestal, but nevertheless, if loaded to her full capacity, which, in- 12,500 tons, she could only deliver 5,000 tons at Puget Sound at trial speed of 14 knots. Her contract price is $822,500. If reduced to 12 knots she would not only cost cluding bunkers, is far less, but would carry more and would deliver over 7,000 tons at Puget Sound. The colliers Mars, Vulcan and Hec- tor are by far the most business-like All three of them put together were built for colliers that the navy owns. less money than either the Vestal or Prometheus, while their combined car- rying capacity is 80 per cent greater than the combined carrying capacities of the Vestal and Prometheus. They were built by the Maryland Steel Co. and the Navy Department had nothing whatever to do with their design. Na- val colliers cannot transport a ton of coal at a cost of less than two to five times what it can be done for in mer- chant ships--and this, too, with the merchant ship paying 4 per cent insur- ance charge and interest and deprecia- tion and maintenance and overhead charges which a naval ship is free trom. Mr. Loud is also disturbed because the Naval Waste stated that the Pro- metheus and Vestal were five years in building. He calls that another mis- The Vestal and Promethe- us were authorized in April, 1904. The Vestal went into commission Oct. 4, 1909, and the Prometheus Jan. 15, 1910. It is not difficult to figure five years in the interim. To be sure the keel of the Vestal was laid on March 26, 1907, and the Prometheus on Nov. 6, 1907, but that is neither here nor there, The time of building a ship statement. "THE MarRINE REVIEW dates from the time she is taken in hand or the contract signed. The drawings and specifications for these - ships were sent out in January, 1905, and were therefore prepared before that date, as Mr. Loud can very readily discover, if he will but read the de- partment reports. There is no mis- statement in the fact that it took five years to build these two colliers. Mr. Loud apparently is not posted. On the lakes we built a ship in forty-five working days from the laying of her keel, but the material had doubtless been in jprocess of fabrication and as- sembly for months before. WATER CONSUMPTION OF EN- GINE ROOM AND DECK AUXILIARIES. The amount of steam consumed, or rather wasted, by auxiliary machinery aboard ship has always been a vex- atious problem for the naval archi- tect. The weight of steam required for the propelling engine can be cal- culated and provided for with a rea- sonable degree of accuracy, but the amount required for other purposes is a very large factor in the boiler capac- ity to be supplied and varies largely Probably the most elaborate and painstaking in- even between similar ships. vestigation of this subject, at least in American practice, was that of the main and auxiliary machinery of the U. S. S. Minneapolis by -Passed As- sistant Engineer W. W. White, of the United States navy, and reported in volume 10, 1898, of the Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, and which has been a standard refer- ence since. Another paper on the same subject was recently read before the Institu- tion of Engineers and Ship Builders in Scotland, by C. F. A. Fyfe and, while the results noted are to be regarded only as approximations, still they are of value as a check on other figures. The paper contains the results of a number of tests with auxiliary steam machinery under varying conditions. The water measurements were ob- tained by observing the fall of the wa- ter level in the boiler gage-glass, with the feeds shut off, while at the same ticipated was used, °1,930 Ib. per hour. 279 time the water of condensation in the steam pipes was collected in a drain tank and measured. The results were plotted and consumption curves drawn. It was found that in the majority of cases the water actually evaporated bore a fairly uniform percentage in excess of the calculated weight of steam passing through the cylinders of the auxiliaries, and what variations oc- curred were generally easily accounted for. Where less steam than was an- superheating or wire-drawing had probably been the cause. It was found that careful handling of winches made a. very great differ- ence in the consumption, one operator using in some cases as much as 55 per cent more steam than another, the conditions both with 9 x 2-in. cylinders required, when being otherwise alike in cases. For 'instance, a winch carelessly driven, 2,790 Jb. of water per hour, but when properly driven, Again, one with cylinders 6 x 10-in. consumed 1,040 lb. per hour when operated carelessly, and, when properly handled, 722 Ib. per hour. The weather was also found to make a very considerable difference in the steam consumption, since in hot weather there is naturally less condensation in the cylinders and pipes. The conditions affecting the consumption of steam by auxiliaries at sea are, of course, different from those in port, and the auxiliaries them- selves are different. It must not be assumed, therefore, that the consump- tion when in port is much of a guide to the consumption at sea, and weath- er conditions affect the results less in the latter case. In trials carried out at sea, the consumption of the us- val auxiliaries, including feed-pump, ash-ejector, circulating pumps, ballast pump, sanitary and bath-pump, refrig- erating machine and pumps, electric engine, steering engine, etc.. apnears to be, on modern, well-equipped steamers, about 15 or 16 per cent of the total amount consumed. STEAMSHIP CREOLE'S PER- FORMANCE. | Editor Marine Review:--It will probably interest the readers of your valued paper to know that the S. S. Creole is again in service after having been fitted with reciprocating engines to replace Curtis marine turbines as