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' president, . F : : : January, 1914 the. recent increased 'price of oil. When crude oil could be obtained for 2 cents a gallon, or thereabouts, there was no question of the fuel economy as measured in dollars. Speaking roughly, the Diesel engine has about double the efficiency of the steam en- gine; and also, speaking roughly, when burned under a steam boiler, average coal and average oil are of the same thermal value, as measured in money, when the price of the coal per ton in dollars is twice the price of the oil per gallon in cents; or, in other words, 2-cent oil is equal to $4 coal. It thus appears that when the relative engine efficiencies are taken into account, the Diesel engine with 2-cent oil would be equal to the steam engine and boiler with coal at $2 a ton. -When the price of oil is doubled, however. this advantage is lost; and, from the figures given, it is easy to see that, speaking roughly, when the price of oil is above 4 cents a gallon, a good steam engine and boiler will produce power at a less money cost for fuel per unit than the Diesel en- gine. "T may remind you that* our vice Admiral Cone, while en- gineer-in-chief of the navy, arranged for the building of a Diesel engine for one of the navy fuel ships, and this work is now under way at the New York navy yard. When this en- gine is finished, the navy department will undoubtedly conduct extended ex- periments which will give a great deal of valuable information. "The limitation as to the quality of oil mentioned above does not seem to hold where it is a question of using oil as fuel under steam boilers. Well designed burners give good results even with Mexican oil and all its impurities. Advantage of Oil Fuel "The many advantages of oil fuel, where its price is not prohibitive, commend it very highly, and its use on steam vessels is steadily increasing. "Ror naval vessels, water tube boil- ers have, for many years, been used exclusively. In the merchant marine their introduction is not as rapid as their merits would seem to warrant, al- though they are being used more and more widely for service in all parts of the world. My study of this sub- ject has led me to attribute the rather gradual adoption of these boilers in the merchant service to conservatism, the existing plants for the manufac- ture of cylindrical boilers, and their cost. My personal relations to this subject suggest that T should not, in an address of this kind, go into the matter more fully, although I have felt that the subject ought to be men- tioned. THE MARINE REVIEW "As in the case of the water tube boiler, so in that of steam turbines, their use has now become practically exclusive in naval vessels. It has been realized almost from the first that the faster the vessel, the better the op- portunity for the turbine, and the recent very high-speed destroyers have shown this conclusively. For slower vessels, methods of adapting the turbine so as to secure high steam economy in the turbine and also high-propeller eff- ciency, all of which are essentially forms of reduction gear, although the details are quite different. Reduction Gear "The simplest form is undoubtedly the mechanical reduction gear, which was first proposed by Admiral Mel- ville, and has been developed in this country by George Westinghouse. In a form differing as to some details, it has been very successfully applied in England by Sir Charles Parsons. The figures, as 1 last 'heard them, were that more than 380,000 H. P. of geared turbines has been installed there. Two vessels have 30,000 H. P. each. As a matter of sentiment, I am sure you will all be pleased to know that on the naval repair ship Melville, named after our late associate, Admiral Mel- ville, his gearing is to be used. "A second form of reduction gear is the electric drive, on which a paper describing its installation on the U. S. naval collier Jupiter, is to be read at this meeting. A cargo boat for the Great Lakes, designed by one of our members, where Diesel engines are the motive power, also utilizes the electric drive. I believe a third exam- ple of this system is now under con- struction in England. "The last method is the hydraulic 'reduction gear, of which one example is now under construction in Germany. "For motor boats, nothing has thus far been found to surpass the gasoline engine. The enormous use of auto- mobiles and motor boats of all kinds has given an unequalled opportunity for the perfection of this form of en- gine. From the thermal viewpoint, I imagine little improvement is to be expected, but from time to time cer- tain mechanical improvements are made, some of which are of very great value. "Much has been written about the possibility of the straight gas engine, operating in connection with a gas producer. So far as I know, only a few installations of this kind have been made, and those only on a small scale. From what I know of gas en- gine practice on land, it would seem to me that this problem for large powers would have many of the same difficulties as obtain in the case of the there are now three. Diesel engine. Here, too, it would be absurd to say that large engines of this type may not be produced that will give great satisfaction, but the outlook at present does not seem promising. "Tt must always be a source of keen chagrin to the occupant of this chair, as it is to me, to be unable to tell you that there is a big increase in the number of vessels in our ship yards for the foreign trade. A' few vessels are now under construction for trading to the west coast of South America, but with this exception our yards are doing absolutely nothing along this line. I have urged in the past that our society should take active steps to se- cure action from congress looking to some encouragement of our shipbuild- ers in this regard, but thus far we have done nothing. "Tt looked at one time as though a scheme, championed by: one of our prominent members, was going to re- ceive a trial by virtue of the provision of the new tariff law, which allows a reduction of duty on goods im- ported in American ships. It appears, however, that the diplomats of other countries were more clever than our own in the drafting of commercial treaties, and that our hands are tied unless our government denounces nearly all such treaties. This is, of course, a very serious matter, and one requiring careful thought before ac- tion is taken. It does seem, however, as though statesmanship could not find a better field than action which would build up a great industry and give employment to a large number of our citizens. Important Food Stuffs "T have just learned from one of our members who has given this subject very careful study that the foregoing statement is rather too inclusive. It appears that the status of the treaty question is such that the law can be enforced to a limited extent, as not all countries have treaties to prevent it. The benefit which would come from even this partial application of the law would be very helpful to thé creation of an American-built commercial fleet in the foreign trade. "Years ago, when our principal ex- ports were the product of the farm and the plantation, and when, indeed, the proportion exported was equal to, or greater than, that consumed at 'home, there might have been ground for the old theory that each country should confine itself to what it could produce cheapest; but circumstances have changed and we are now facing the question of possibly importing food stuffs ourselves. "It now costs more to build and operate vessels flying the American