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December, 1916 of vessel. One condenser serves both engines and an independent air pump is provided in conjunction with it. A fire and bilge pump which is fitted in the engine room, is capable of pumping from several compartments on the sea or river. A feed filter tank is placed at the forward end of the engine room. The vessel's two double-ended water- tube boilers are in closed stoke holds; each boiler is fitted with an independent funnel. These boilers are designed to provide overload power, when needed, by burning oil in conjunction with coal. As the steamer has to navigate waters which carry in suspension a considerable per- centage of foreign matter, settling and filter tanks are provided instead of an evaporating plant. Three of these tanks are fitted on the deck above the engine room. The water supply is taken from a branch pipe off the fire and bilge pump discharge to the sanitary tanks. The water is discharged into the uppermost of the three tanks through a ball-valve, and flows from this tank into the second THE MARINE REVIEW one, which contains layers of filtering material, Passing through this, it flows into the third tank, in which it is again filtered. If necessary, the course of the water can be short-circuited. As the efficiency of the propellers de- pends on their working in solid water, it is important that when the propellers commence revolving in the two tunnels, any entrained air must be forced out. The after part of the tunnel must pro- ject below the surface of the water, even when the steamer is at its lightest draft. When the vessel is fully loaded and this projection is more deeply im- mersed, resistance is increased con- siderably. To meet this problem the after parts of the tunnel are movable and hinged, so that they can be adjusted to correspond to the _ vessel’s draft. The forward part of the tunnel forms part of the hull, but.the after part is hinged at a point about the center of the tunnel and adjusts itself to the vary- ing conditions of load and draft. 421 New Ship Yard The Oregon Ship Building Co. has been organized in Portland, Ore., by William M. Umbdenstock and asso- ciates of the firm of Umbdenstock & Larson. John H. Price, formerly with the St. Helens Ship Building Co., has been appointed general superintendent of the new company. The corporation has a capital stock of $200,000. The company intends to build. wooden vessels. It is expected that work will begin shortly on the equipment of a yard. ‘Reports from the Pacific coast indicate that the demand for wooden vessels continues unabated, and it is believed that a number of new con- tracts will be closed during the pres- ent month. The wooden ship-building yards now operating on the Pacific coast are getting ready for the winter. At some of the yards, such as the Peninsula Ship Building Co., Portland, sheds are being erected for the pro- tection of vessels under construction. RITISH ship building, while B showing improvement in the out- put of merchant vessels, is still far from satisfactory, particularly in view of increasing war losses. This fact leads the Liverpool Journal of Com- merce, to urge the appointment of a single government representative to con- trol ship building. Attention is called to the estimate of total war losses, amounting to 1,700,000 gross tons due to hindrance of new con- struction, 1,520,000 tons to actual war de- struction, and 1,000,000 tons to excessive depreciation, making a total of 4,220,000 tons, to replace which the “ton for ton”: policy is claimed tobe essential. The article continues: “After the war neutral ship owners will be in a very powerful position on account of the huge profits which they are making out of the war, for this capital will undoubtedly find profitable employment in the carrying trade for years to come. The competition will be exceedingly keen, and ship owners should not be unduly handicapped now, or left in the lurch when the contest be- tween the nations of the world once more assumes a more peaceful character. * “According to Lloyds Register Ship Building Returns, the vessels completed during the quarter ending Sept. 30, 1916, amount to only 71,000 gross tons. The total for the present year to the same date is 200,000 gross tons, which com- pares with a normal output of 1,000,000 tons for the same period. These figures apply right up to a few weeks ago and, therefore, there is little justification for optimism. On the other hand our future competitors are developing their powers of tonnage production at a very rapid rate, and they will be able to compete with this country for the supply of the world’s requirements on a much better | basis than in pre-war times. “Seventy thousand tons per quarter, or one decent ship a week, is a ridiculous output. In spite of admitted difficulties it is hard for the outsider to believe that this cannot be improved, while everyone claiming any general knowledge of the situation is well aware that many more ships could be turned out without at all interfering with the more urgent re- quirements of any other section of our fighting machinery. “Claims on the manhood of the coun- try and on the output of material for more urgent purposes are admitted; there is no complaint on this account. What is not admitted is that it is neces- sary to employ a constantly increasing multitude of officials to stifle the best efforts of ship builders and apparently to ensure that what available labor and material there is will be wasted. The ship yards of the country, and the sup- plies of labor and material they so urgently require, are being wasted, at a most critical period of our. history, by the grip of officialdom. “The complaints against the existing system, or rather multiplicity of systems, each possessing its own little tin head, are wniversal. been governed by a sense of loyalty and a desire to do all that is possible, but there is a limit to what can be: borne in The ship builders have | The ship building silence. needs one thing to put it right, namely, an autocrat, one strong man to govern industry everything; to see that the available supplies are not frittered away; to in- sure that the man who can best build big ships is given big ships to build, and not toy ships; in general to arrange things on a sensible basis and prevent every official suddenly possessed of tem- porary power from overemphasizing his own requirements and upsetting every- thing else. “The shipbuilding work in this coun- try will only be carried on efficiently under a dictator. The selfish interest of every department must be controlled, and the desire to keep a grip on firms which may conveniently be released for merchant work must be abandoned. One strong man. is far more valuable and efficient than a thousand weak ones, whose very numbers are a handicap. “The post of dictator is not difficult to fill. What is required is an individual who is intimate with the ship building industry, and whose career is a guarantee of strength of character, soundness of judgment and outstanding ability.” The firm of S. A. Lindvkist, Stock- holm, has bought lately from Danish owners a 6,000-ton deadweight steamer, and from Argentine owners two steam- ers, each of 2,000 tons deadweight. Be- sides this it has also contracted with a Canadian ship building yard for the building of two steamers. The total amount involved in these deals is about 10,000,000 kroner.