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Bombay habor—The American flag M ANY years ago the American flag was well known in the Far East. Once again it is making a bid for recognition. Two of the accompanying illustrations were taken by a member of the crew of the American steam- ship Algic main- taining a regular service between the United States and East Indian ports. is no longer unknown on the seven seas Seven Year Record of S. S. Algic Has Logged 350,000 Miles in Service to India—Never Has Laid Up—Low Repairs—Machinery Is in Good Condition By A. H. Jansson ME S. S. ALGIc, shipping board freighter built by the Merchant Shipbuilding Co. at Bristol, Pa., delivered in August, 1920, 4) was placed in service September, 1920 and has never missed a sailing in the India trade since that time. On the last voyage completed at New York, Jan. 2, 1927 the ALGIC made a record trip outward bound to Karachi of thirty-two days, cutting four days off the usual time. She has been on every honor roll (five in all) issued by the shipping board. In seven years of service she has never had a breakdown of machinery and the maintenance cost has been negligible though some improve- ments to the machinery have been added in the past two years. Approximately 350,000 miles have been logged and the main reduction gears show no appreciable wear and on careful inspec- tion appear practically the same as new. Bridge gage readings on the tur- bines and leads of all bearings, taken at the end of each voyage, have shown, year in and year Out, that there is no measureable wear. The chief engineer states that in all the seven years of operation not a_ single tube has had to be re- placed in any one of her three water tube boilers. Such in brief is the rec- G. M. GUSTAVSON Chief Engineer S. S. ALecic ord of one of the American emergency vessels built as a result of the war. And essentially comparable records have been made by other vessels of the same type. Time enough has now elapsed to enable the unbiased observer to formulate a truer estimate of the mechanical performance of vessels built during and shortly after the war. It is an old story that miracles of shipbuilding were per- formed in America at that time. It is just as old a story and one that has been even more widely repeated that the ships built at that time under such difficult conditions and in so short a time were so poorly constructed and equipped that they fell down badly in operation. From personal observations this opinion is far from justified. Many of these ships have been in con- tinuous operation for seven years or more and are today in first-class running condition. Nearly three years ago a study was made of the records of performance of the Hog Island type of freighter choosing one as represen- tative of her class of 110. HINDU TEMPLE AT MADRAS, INDIA 11