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

November, 1910 common both of .which were and are available in ample supply. It is gratifying to all who love the navy that our present secretary went at the question in this simple and intelligent way, and I believe that the organiza- tion, as-it has been planned by ex- perienced officers and approved by him, is along correct lines. Within a few weeks he called a meeting of commandants of yards and chiefs of bureaus for conference as to progress and possible improvement. When such a spirit prevails success and the high- est efficiency are assured. GrorcE W. MELVILLE, Rear Admiral and Ex-Engineer-in-Chief, U.S. N. Retired. "Admiral Melville's communication drew the following spirited reply from Admiral Goodrich: : "Those who are acquainted with ex- Engineer-in-Chief Melville will be able to make the proper allowances in read- ing his letter on 'Shop Management in Our Navy Yards,' printed in your is- sue of Oct. 8. Those who are not ac- quainted with him will be surprised, if not pained, to find a naval officer indulging in personalities when dis- cussing a question which interests all who seek what is best for the service, and who are, therefore, glad to adopt any measure, however opposed to their own preconceptions, which shall achieve this desirable end. "The public press is no place for in- sinuations. of 'specious' advocacy of 'in- accurate' or 'irrelevant ideas' or 'Ten Commandment' truisms, except on the well known legal principle of abusing the plaintiff's attorney when you have no case; nor is the public press a proper place for answering such in- sinuations. "The system, which the ex-engineer- in-chief assumes to be that of my preference, needs no defense from me. Those who have tested it and found it Satisfactory are quite ready to speak in its favor. The best methods are none too good for the navy. I feel sure that, eventually, they will be in- Stalled in our yards. I care not by what name they are called or whence derived. "I do not doubt the ex-engineer-in- chief in the least when he says that he is unaware of such salaries as the one I mentioned, $50,000 annually to the superintendent of a certain huge industrial plant. That he does not know of such salaries is, of course, no Proof of their non-existence. More than half the human race do not know that the world is round. "The statement that 'the most prog- Tessive establishments' are opposed to 'the concentration and consolidation of shops' is unsupported by instances sense, TAE MarRINE REVIEW adduced. The multiplication of shops doing the same kind of work, as under the old bureau plan, may be favored somewhere, possibly, but it hardly com- mends itself to that 'common sense' upon which he lays no more than the proper stress. Establishments with this tendency would most profitably be sought in the list of bankrupts. It is astounding to infer his approval of the ancient navy yard system from the remark that 'the question of navy yard management' is 'a very old question, and we have had it solved for a great many years.' I was mistaken, it seems, in thinking that particular solution wholly discredited and without de- fenders. If so admirable, why does he commend the present policy, which eliminates it? "T have elsewhere said that the earn- estness with which the subject is now being attacked forbids any doubt that a fitting organization and administra- tion in our shore establishments will, be sought and adopted, but it may be confidently predicted that 'the general an lines on which the navy yards were conducted before the Newberry scheme' will be conspicuous 'by their absence. "T am forced to wonder whether the ex-engineer-in-chief has read with any care my article in the Independent for. Sept. 15,.-which he criticizes, It was a frank recognition of what has been done and is now doing; a counsel of hope and appreciation, not of de- spair and depreciation. It indicated the difficulties, which it did not seek to evade or ignore, and it pleaded for that training which alone is needed to enable our men, the very best of ma- terial intrinsically, to undertake with self-reliance and to discharge with credit their important responsibilities when detailed as shop managers. I trust that no one will form a judgment without consulting my own words. C. F. Goopricu." Self-Propelling Marine Staging (From the Engineering Record.) For some years there has been in use in England a so-called marine locomotive staging, which is a self- contained propelling platform capable of walking. into the water and thus serving instead of temporary staging or barges for the construction of ma- rine works or the excavation of sub- aqueous rock. The first one was used at Peter- head, a fishing port north of Aberdeen, Scotland, for the removal of about 10,000 cu. yd. of granite, lying at a depth of about 24 ft. below high water. The North Sea along this coast is rarely calm enough to permit c é 8 oo 449 borings to be made from barges and severe storms come frequently and make it inadvisable to place floating equipment in exposed positions. This situation led to the design of the loco- motive staging, which withstood heavy storms though the waves sometimes broke over the platform. The staging 'carried five drills, and was arranged to advance 5 ft. at a time, this distance corresponding to the spacing of the | te: BOP Gear 7-- 46'3"- ---------------- ae Outer Frame-'- vo. RELATION OF Parts oF MARINE STAGING. holes. Air was brought to the drills from shore through a submarine hose, and as the five holes were completed they were blasted directly under the platform. Subsequently this machine was moved to Dover, where it was used by the British Admiralty in blasting for deepening the harbor. The stage shown in the accompany- ing photograph was built for Messrs. W. Hill & Co., for their work on the harbor improvements at Whitby, where it was used instead of temporary false- work for building the west pier ex- tension. Two stages of this type were | t 1 ' | te | Ps = /ndicates Spud 4 1 o i). Froller "3 be as a | mot 5 Ny ' | Pale rc Ss iota | zs = Main Girders, fet a "Polling Frame yo i i a Pk fee 58/0 BM ---s------ =~ > Crane on y__ these Girders | used on this work. The general di- mensions are shown in the _ sketch herewith, all lengths being center to center of the framework members shown. The device, it will be seen from the sketch and the photograph, consists essentially of two independent struct- ural steel frame works, one within the other, so arranged as to move inde- pendently and to act as a support, the one for the other, in moving. Each frame has four legs or spuds which can be raised independently of each other. The method of operation is as follows: If it be assumed that the inner frame is to be moved, the legs on it are raised, in which condition it is carried on rollers resting on the outer frame. It is then hauled for- ward by tackles attached to the outer frame. The spuds on the inner frame are then lowered, and those on the . : ee og eee :