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but between ourselves, I would rather be on the floor, a free lance, 'than serve you in the chair. I would have more fun, I think, if I were on the floor; but be that as it may, here I am ready, and being called to duty, I respond, as all good soldiers do, and will do the best I can under the circumstances. "Being only temporary chairman, as it were, I prepared no address as. chairman, for, as I have said,:I had hopes up to yesterday afternoon that Admiral Bowles would be here to make his own presidential speech, but there are two or three subjects upon which I wish to say a few words, and my remarks will be very brief. The Detroit Meeting. "First, I wish to repeat what I said in Detroit last summer. You will re- member we had a summer meeting, an extra meeting of this society, at which, I am very sorry to say, there were not near enough members pres- ent to appreciate and enjoy the hos- pitality of our western friends. We had a fine time in.every way, and they did all that was possible to make those who were present comfortable and at home in that beautiful city of Detroit. Now, I want to warn you that possibly you may get a chance again to go west to attend. an. extra meeting of the society. Such a thing has been hinted at--whether it comes this year or next--or when, I know not, but if the occasion does come, I trust all of you will take my word for it that it will be worthy of atten- tion by each and every one. of you, and I trust that you will all be there. "Those of you who were fortunate enough to see 'the naval parade at the opening of the late Hudson-Fulton celebration in this city--and those of you who were not fortunate enough to see it- must have seen pictures of it and illustrations of all sorts, verbal and otherwise, must have been greatly delighted at the magnificent display of naval architecture and marine en- gineering. As you came up. that crowded bay, 'by the river, along that magnificent display of war vessels-- mar veese Ss, | have said; but messengers of peace some of us be- lieve--you must have 'been thrilled with the fact that, with the exception of the foreign vessels that were there anchored, all the vessels in the proces- sion, every vessel of note, was the result of effort in some direction by members of this society. I certainly take great pride in thinking that that was a display worthy of a society of very much greater numbers, but of no more importance, that this society. TALE MaRINE REVIEW But that brings to mind another question--that thrill of joy was a lit- tle 'bit touched by a certain disap- pointment. As you passed up the river and saw the numberless vessels gaily arrayed in flags celebrating that day, you saw not one vessel flying the American flag, which was en- gaged in foreign trade. Born as I -was in the city of New York, raised on its water front, engaged in and on the water as a boy and man ever since, and old enough to remember the Collins steamers that fortnightly left the foot of Canal street, amid the firing of a; gun; a matter.of such importance it was for a vessel to go to Europe--remembering ll this, proud of the fact that I am a New 'York citizen, proud of the history of New York, proud of its commercial superiority in every way--there still mains a greater pride, the pride of being a citizen of the United States, under our flag, our stars and stripes. A More Than Twice Told Tale. This being so, it is a regret to me to feel that today, if we wish to go to Europe, there are but one or two vessels bearing our flag upon which we can go, that the magnificent steam- ers, those we each really wish to go on, if we care to go at all, bear a foreign flag. This is not. a twice told tale, but has been told over and over again, and "has ipeen for years, 'but still we must stick to this particular question of the American merchant marine, not only as naval architects December, 1909 but as citizens, our duty and patriotic privilege being to enhance the pros- perity of our merchant marine. You - will notice: on the program a 'paper to be read by Mr. Dickie, of San Francisco. When this paper was sub- mitted to the council I was opposed to its acceptance on the .ground that is expressed opinions contrary to the custom of the society, but I 4m pleased to say that I was overruled and the paper will be read. It treats of political possibilities in regard to the merchant marine. The difficulty of legislation in this matter has been that so many ways have been sug- gested and the advocates of each are so bitterly opposed to the others that 'it has been impossible to decide upon one course. The New York Chamber of Commerce has been expressing it-. self for one policy and our friend, Mr. Nixon, - for another. At the dinner of the society tomorrow evening, at which I expect to preside, there will © be two or three speakers on this mat- ter and I hope that some way will be set forth in which we can all join for the good of the cause." At the conclusion of Mr. Taylor's remarks, Secretary Baxter announced that the council by 'their first ballot had unanimously chosen Stevenson Taylor for the presidency of the so- ciety for three years beginning Jan. tL onext.. Naval Constructor W. J. Baxter was also chosen secretary and treasurer for the next three years. These nominations were unanimously ratified by the society. Evolution of Screw Propulsion in the United States pee society then proceeded to the reading of the. papers. + The, first paper on the program was "The Evo- lution of Screw Propulsion in the Waited -- States: by .iCharles...) H. Cramp, vice president. 'In the ab- sence of Mr. Cramp the paper was read. Dar W. cA.) Debson. 3. lt. was largely historical 'in character and was admirably abstracted by Mr. Dobson. Though the screw propel- ler was invented by Col. John Stev- ens in 1804, its real development did not begin until about 1840 owing to the absence of good machine shops in this country. John Ericsson was the real founder of screw propulsion in this country. He arrived here in 1840 and made the acquaintance of Thomas Clyde, who soon became a. convert to screw propulsion and was the first ship owner to adopt it in this coun- try... A pair of screws was fitted 'to the J. S. McKim, which he used in his gulf trade and later as a trans- port in 'the Mexican war. While Ericsson accomplished more in the education of the public mind in the matter of screw propulsion, he was not successful in the introduction of his own screw. The original screw of Col' Stevens was replacing all others, but not under his name. The favorite screw of Reaney, Neafie & Co, was the Loper. patent. Capt. Loper had bought the patent from a workingman and probably died with- out knowing anything of its resem- blance to the Stevens propeller. The firm of Sutton, Smith & Co. took a decided stand in building the screw propeller engines and became quite a rival to Reaney, Neafie & Co. They introduced English types with great They were of the oscillat- ing and horizontal. trunk kind. Great Britain's supremacy in screw propul- sion practically began with the screw ship Great Britain, in 1844. Mean- while New York interests would not SUCCESS.