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February, 1912 close the bottom of the form effect- ually against the egress of the mor- tar, watching carefully that none is escaping at the time of the filling. Steel bars 8 ft. long of %-in. stock are hung, one in each of the three sections of the form. They have a shepherd's crook for support on the top edge of the form, and are used for slushing the mortar. into . compact state. agit ills, Composition of Mortar. The mortar is made, one part ce- ment to about two parts sand, the lat- ter being silica and selected as coarse as possible, say 0.18 mm. effective size. "It is assured that 'there is a little overfill of cement. The opera- tion of filling is carried on rapidly, the effect of the slushing rods being supplemented by tapping with clubs on the stiffeners, resulting in securing a sound mass excepting in the lower zone of about 18 in. It will be noted that the forms were made 2 ft. longer. than the reinforce- ment cage. The' separating of the sand from the cement in the lower portion could not be avoided under the limitation of having to drop the mortar through so great a depth of water; accordingly the reinforcement was made to occupy only the sound part of the envelope. Fig. 2 shows the construction and the finished appearance of the work. At the time of writing, the work is 'still in progress, with a record show- ing no failures. It should, however, be added that at times much delay is caused by difficulty in sealing the foot of the form. bottom. The expense of this treatment is,-- labor (contract price), $8; materials (cement, fencing, etc.), $4; a total of $12, to which should be added the ex- pense of experimenting and overhead charges. There seems good reason to expect a further life of the piles thus treated as great as that at present sustained. There was also used experimentally on some of the creosoted piles in new construction in the same work a rein- forced mortar protection applied in the following manner: 'First, wire nails--about 12d.--were driven thickly over the protected zone for one-third their length, the zone being 10 ft. wide; next, the nails were bent over, using in this operation a short length of small iron pipe, which was not only expeditious but prevented the nail from making the angle close to the wood; a wrapping of poultry fencing of the before-described class was then 'clusive of overhead charges. It is useless to place the 'mortar when any is escaping at the THE MARINE REVIEW attached; a coat of Portland cement plastering was then applied, being thoroughly troweled in; this was about 34 in. thick, and was_ treated when set by 'a grout wash of Portland cement mixed in a solution of water glass. The envelope was kept wet until well set. In respect to the wa- ter glass it is too early to. noté its effect in resisting the action of sea water. The driving of these piles showed the following features of interest, the hammer used being a. regular drop- hammer weighing 2,500 lb. Confining the drop to 4 ft., the envelope was nearly invariably kept intact; above this limit of drop the mortar was de- tached more or less, occurring. nearly always at those places in the envelope where the fencing was in contact with 'the wood; the mortar was also weak- ened and became detached through the influence of the creosote which had cooked out of the pile and per- meated the mortar as it layin the yard exposed to the direct sun rays. Cost of Protection. The cost of this form of protection was,--labor (contract), $1.20; mate- rials, about $2.50; a total of $3.70, ex- also be observed that the handling cost in placing the piles in the yard 'in position to be treated was addition- al and amounted to a considerable item. This expense applied -of course in the case of any desired treatment, such as coppering, etc. More care in dragging out the above-described piles -- over the ground from the yard was actually required than in the case of those protected with copper yellow- metal. The expense of' yellow-metal covering in 20-oz. weight was three times that of the mortar protection. Conclusions. -- If the netting be placed so as to be free from contact with the wood, leaving a clear space of about % in. for the mortar to en- ter and get a grip of the wire, ordin- ary handling with careful driving will not injure the envelope; certainly the use of a steam hammer would insure entire freedom from damage in driv- ing. When applied to creosoted piles there should be maintained a shade to prevent the exuding otherwise of a serious amount of creosote under the- heat of the direct sun rays. ; General--It may anticipate some reader's query, "How do you account for the confining of the activity of the sea pests to so narrow a belt?" to remark that the clearness of the wa- ter seems to govern the activity of the teredo and of the limnoria. The Puerto Barrios harbor bottom is a It must. 67 mineral ooze, very easily stirred up. Other localities, like Port Limon in Costa Rica, where the limnoria 'has been active enough at. depths of 25 ft. to eat off creosoted piles in seven years having clear water to the bot- tom, show an activity of the borers, which, while greatest at the water line, extends to the ground. Local conditions of murkiness of water may account for curious differ- ences of such activity in neighboring wharves which the writer has thad cited to him as occurring in our northern waters. Lake Grain Trade The movement of grain on the great lakes during 1911 was the great- est in the history of the trade, total- ling 301,465,153 bushels. This calcu- lation includes flour as grain (4% bu. to the barrel) and comprises the whole eastward movement, including that destined for the seaboard via the .various Canadian routes. The shipments by ports were as follows: : Bu., 1911. Lake . Superior 'ports. «cs u serene Bere 053,468 Chicago os eGo ee 86,090,770 Milwaukee) jc... ete ea, 26,930,895 POLO cS ar ee 1,711,500 Gla stOlicn Ce ic ae ees 6,718,373 FOMer ports see eee cee 2,951,147 Wot 50) Be 301,456,153 *Manitowoc, Cleveland Detroit, Green Bay, and other ports that ship small amounts of grain by lake, During the past six years the east- ward movement of grain of all kinds, including flour, on the lakes lees been as follows: - Year.. cS _ Bushels. | HOME Sosa op keep aw 301,456,153 : 248,838,915 284,670,486 - 255,487,572 he 297,150,861 PQQ Gc acnet ee ars sons 2895929,614 The captains of the fleet of vessels" controlled 'by M. A. Hanna & Co. held their annual meeting on Jan. 25. The care of auxiliary machinery occupied most of the discussion. O. D. Duncan, of Goulder, Day, White, Gary & Dun- can, addressed the masters on naviga- tion from the legal standpoint. The meeting closed with a dinner at the -- ~ Hollenden. The steam lighter Washburn,-owned by the McElroy Transportation Co., is at Elizabethport, N. J., installing a Roberts safety water tube boiler. Among other lighters in New York harbor that are equipped with Rob- erts boilers, are the National and At- lantic, owned by the National Lead. Co., the C. L. Haines, operated for the Babbitts Soap Co. the John - Wise, owned by Arbuckle Bros., and the Globe, owned by the Rockaway White Sand Co.