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404 on ball-bearings from the top, and are manipulated. by means of worm wheels driven from horizontal shaft- ing which runs the length of the ves- sel on each side. The _ horizontal shafting is worked by bevel gearing from a _ four-cylinder high-pressure engine of special design situated be- low the main deck. The gearing is arranged to lift the tidal deck fully loaded with a train and locomotive weighing about 1,400 tons at the rate of 1 foot per minute, to a height of about 20 feet, which enables the ferry to be loaded or unloaded at any state of the tide. Exhaustive lifting trials have been carried out with en- tirely satisfactory results. At each end of the tidal deck an adjustable hinged gangway is suspended which allows for any change of trim or heel of ship due to unequal distribu- tion of weights while taking the coaches on or off the vessel. Above the highest position of carriages on the tidal deck a promenade is ar- ranged with a bridge platform for- ward, from which all the operations of steering and maneuvring are di- _rected. The main propelling engines are situated abaft the boiler-rooms and the engine for the ice propeller is placed in the hold just abaft the fore peak bulkhead. The vessel is fitted with electric light throughout, and electric gear is provided for rais- ing and lowering the end gangways and for hauling the railway carriages' on and off. Structural Features Considered | A naval architect in the Standard, London, has this to say concerning the Empress of. Ireland-Storstad col- lision from the structural standpoint: "The Empress of Ireland calamity serves to recall another collision which took place on July 27, 1912, in the same locality as the present disas- ter, but of which there was but little public notice taken at the time as there was no loss of life. There are certain circumstances, however, at- tending the two collisions which com- bine to form a' grim coincidence. That of 1912 was between the Em- press of Britain and the Helvetia. The Empress of Britain and the ill- fated Empress of Ireland were sister ships, and they were both built on the transverse system. The Helvetia and Storstad were built on the Isher- wood system of longitudinal framing. In the 1912 collision it was the Isher- wood vessel that was rammed amid- ships and sunk. In the present disas- ter it is the transverse vessel that has met with that fate, resulting, un- happily, in an appalling loss of human THE MARINE REVIEW life. To heighten the coincidence still further the two liners were built in the same yard, and so were the two Isherwood boats; the former by the Fairfield Ship Building Co., and the latter by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whit- worth & Co. The causes of the Empress. of Ireland disaster will doubtless be duly cleared up at the official inquiry, but there is one re- spect in which the two collisions open up a wide field of discussion, and that is as to whether the Isher- wood system or the transverse sSys- tem offers the greater resistance to damage by collision. "Tn arriving at a conclusion on this point there are many factors to be taken into consideration--the speed of the colliding vessels at the moment of. collision, the patt of the ship where the impact is received, and the dimensions and the displacements of the vessels. In the case of the pres- ent instance it will be seen from the following figures that the two trans- verse bqats were larger and heavier than the Isherwood boats:-- "Empress of Britain--Dimensions, S00 feet by 65 teet 9 inches by 40 feet; gross tonnage, 14,200 tons; dis- placement, 19,000 to 20,000 tons. "Helvetia--Dimensions, 375 feet by 52 feet by 30 feet 9 inches; gross ton- nage, 4,950 tons; displacement, 10,500 to 11,000 tons. "In size and tonnage the Empress of Ireland was the same as the Empress of Britain, but the Storstad is a larger boat than the Helvetia was. Her di- mensions are 440 feet by 58 feet by 36 feet 2 inches. Her gross tonnage is 6,030, and her displacement 14,000 to 14,500 tons. "In the collision of 1912 between the Empress of Britain and the Hel- vetia the former struck the latter amidships. Her nose was kept in the breach which she had made until the 40 people who were on board the Helvetia were rescued. The Empress of Britain was then backed out, and the Helvetia immediately sank. Pho- tographs of the sinking vessel were taken at the time and the pictures were subsequently shown on the kine- matograph. The Empress of Britain suffered very considerable damage, her fore part being almost completely carried away, although the ship with which she collided was smaller and lighter and had it not been for her collision bulkhead another terrible disaster would probably have been re- corded. "In the present disaster it is the transverse vessel which has' been rammed amidships, and although the Storstad was the lighter of the two she 'appears to have lost comparatively October, 1914 few plates. As to whether she would also have sunk had she not been built on the Isherwood system can only be conjectured, but the data which ire available prove that this type of ship emerges from ocean mishaps and severe weather ordeals with compara- tively little damage. In September, 1911, an Isherwood ship was collided with in Flushing Roads. She was the Steinturm, with a displacement of 11,500 tons, and the ship which col- lided with her was the Marnix, with a displacement of 4,000 tons. The Steinturm was rammed amidships, but she was able to continue on her long voyage after a temporary repair, and it was conceded at the time that had she been built on the transverse sys- tem the collision would have sunk her, "Owe, to the "nature 'of "the Isherwood system of construction, the impact in the event of a collision is re- ceived on longitudinal frames, and it is obvious that this must lessen the evil results. The force of the blow is resisted by these frames, and then transmitted to the strong transverses; but in the case of a vessel built on the transverse system, the damage is localized upon a piece of unsup- ported plating. "With two appalling disasters, the need is imperative that every pre- caution be taken to avert a repetition of such terrible tragedies. Water- tight compartments are excellent' in theory, but they are fitted with doors, and as such, are dependent on the human element. This element can be eliminated by the construction of an inner skin, with hermetically sealed divisions, and a lead in this direction has already been given in the case of the Olympic." Under the new tracts concluded between the Hun- garian government and the various shipping companies, Hungary has been enabled to increase its oversea service considerably. It has become possible for the Adria Sea Naviga- tion Co. to increase its fleet and ex- tend its services; the Levant Sea Navigation. Co. has opened new serv- ices to Australia and has changed its former fortnightly service between Galatz and Constantinople into a weekly one, besides adding to its fleet; the Hungarian-Crotian Sea Navigation Co. starts an Albanian- Grecian line; the Atlantica Sea Navigation Co.--a "tramp-ship" line-- has only been in existence about a couple of years, but its business is progressing favorably, and it has al- ready at its disposal 11 modern steamers of, altogether, 64,500 tons capacity. subvention con-