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Problems of the Vessel Operator Lubrication of Marine Engines--Computing Cargo Space--Coal Waste Through Boiler Scale--Provides His Own Tow--Cargo Stowage : PROBLEMS of lubrication are P often more important with ma- rine installations than with land. uA present when. the American merchant -marine is completing a period of war strain, heavy repairs must be made on -the ships. Many of these repairs are due directly. or indirectly to improper lubrication. ' It. has. been the legetice to permit the engineer, to purchase grease as "he selected. In some cases, he bought the first thing" that came to hand. Often, after putting some of-this' prod- -uct on. his machinery he would see "it foam' tip 'and' run off, and thus he ~would learn 'what was meant; by sa- _Ponification. For marine work a "grease that - _saponifies causes trouble. Some marine -engineers were under the impression. that steam cylinder oi! 'could be used with equal results. on all types and designs of engines, or that .an. engine | oil 'would do just as -well if any .grease would perform its functions in one place as well as an- other. But that.is not'the: case... The -oil experts have at last approached this . problem and now the shipping companies are being urged. to instruct their engineers 'to specify. marine steam cylinder. oil, marine engine oil or marine grease as 'the case. may be. Marine greases are. compounded to meet the conditions 'surrounding their use and will prevent any unnecessary wear on the bearing surfaces of the. machinery. These oils will, as a matter of fact, saponify but they will lubricate and will not be easily . washed | off 'by water. They have an affinity for steel and iron when coming in contact with water. "This is. particularly important i in ma- 'ine work. Marine steam cylinder oil is made from a 600 to 650 steam refined stock compounded with acidless tallow. Marine engine oil is compounded oil 'consisting of about 75 per cent min- 'eral matter and a balance of vegetable oil, and lard oil. Marine greases are made with a caustic soda base, petro- Jeum and animal fats. These specifi- cations are essential on marine work because the lubricant should be. one that can be worked in close proximity with water. A lubricant which gives excellent results on dry land will not necessarily give equally good results "on the sea because of the ever con- 'stant possibility of water reaching the with excellent results. machinery. Such oil, when it comes in contact with water, will saponify. 'To Compute Cargo Space The United States bureau of stand- ards has worked out, for the use of shippers, the following formula for computing the hold space required fot a shipment of barrels, when the internal contents in cubic feet are known: on 2.81 V= xy XN 1 1 2------- -- A; Ww where.V =total hold space required. v=internal contents in cubic Oo feet. 1 gallon = 0,134 cubic feet. , L=number of barrels in length of bottom layer. w=number of barrels in width. of bottom layer. N-number of barrels in ship-. ment. Be 2.81 ihe veoeficient -----~ varies' : es ee Oe ae ~ eae with the shape and size of the hold... For existing commercial conditions the range of variation of the coeffi- cient is in all probability between 1.5 and 1.8, Assume a shipment of 134 fifty! gal- lon barrels, the bottom layer 10 bar- rels long and four barrels wide: then (se 00s. west v=50 X 0.134 cubic feet. = 6./ cubic feet, N = 134 barrels. Substituting in the formula 2.81 ee ee A 6 x 184 1 1 Oe ee 10 4 ee x 67 134. = 1526 cubic feet of hold Space re- quired. --_. Preventing Boiler Scale The fuel conservation engineer of the United States fuel administration has issued an open letter dealing with boiler scale prevention. In a table showing the insulating effect of scale, he gives information which may 374 eeu consumers of fuel to take steps to prevent scale. This, it is said, can be done by removing the Seale. forming elements from the water be. fore admitting it into the boiler. The insulating effect of scale varies as the square root of its thickness. Com- paring the coal wasted from every ton of coal burned with the average thick- ness of scale in the boiler, it is found: For 1/50-inch, 100 pounds; for 1/32- inch, 140 pounds; for 1/25-inch, 180 pounds; for 1/20-inch, 200 pounds; for 1/16-inch, 220 pounds; for 1/11-inch, 300 pounds, and for 1/9-inch, 320 pounds. Thus, a scale less than \%- inch thick causes a loss of 15 per cent of the fuel burned. Provides His Own Tow Several new sailing schooners, recently completed on the Pacific. coast, have been fixed to carry cargoes of lumber and' ties to the United Kingdom. It is the intention to go via the Panama canal. Some of the masters of these sailing. craft believe that they can maneuver their vessels close enough to the canal zone, although the winds are generally light, to get a tow into Balboa. One enterprising master plans to pur- chase a fair-sized launch with good power, carrying it on deck. When he strikes a calm zone he will send the launch overboard to tow his vessel into the entrance of the canal. Among the vessels of this class recently chartered for Europe are the schooners Gunn and WASHINGrON, completing at British Co- lumbia yards, and the Seattle built 4- master Mount WHITNEY. -- Cargo Stowage The bureau of research and statis- tics of the war trade board recently issued a 69-page booklet which gives a complete list of articles constitut- ing ships' cargoes, how they are packed, their gross' weight, measure- ment of the containers and the space taken up in stowage. This stowage represents the number of cubic feet of cargo space in which a long ton of 2240 pounds may be shipped. It is pointed out that existing books on the subject were incomplete and that the object of the present publication was to give shippers and others in- terested in the stowage of ships full information on the subject.