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European Shipping (Continued from Page 11) pected to approach half a million sterling per ship, and they are all par- ticularly interested in the carriage of chilled meat from New Zealand and Australia, a new trade which has only been made possible by careful re- search into the possibilities of car- bonic acid gas in conjunction with refrigeration. The first consignments of Australiasian chilled beef received in Britain have been conspicuously successful. These new ships naturally raise the question whether it is not worth while to modernize existing vessels in order to bring them more or less up to a par, but British owners at least are rather doubtful except in unusual cases. The slump has lasted so long that the average first class ship is no longer in her first youth and the cost of the alterations would have to be borne by the comparatively short life remaining, bringing the overheads to be met annually up to an unreason- able figure. In the passenger business there is very little building in Europe at the moment beyond the new Cunarder, the most interesting ships being the two Australian liners under construction at Barrow in Furness for the P & O and Orient lines respectively. These two companies are connected, but each has its full individuality and it is a Sign of the times that the ships be- ing built are sisters. It is also inter- esting to note that, in spite of the fact that the P & O company has been conspicuously successful with the use of turbo-electric machinery, these ships are to have geared turbines. The rea- son for this is that the shipbuilders are, not unnaturally, definitely against a system of machinery which brings in a specialist firm from outside the industry and it is understood that a considerable sum has been saved on the cost of these two ships’ hulls by mechanical gearing. To Try High Pressure Steam At the same time it is interesting to note that the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd, whose interests in the Oriental trade are still united, are now building two ships of 17,000 tons each with a speed of 21 knots which will be propelled by turbo- electric machinery drawing its steam at an extreme pressure of well over 3000 pounds to the square inch from Benson boilers of the type which the Hamburg-American tried with con- spicuous success in one of its cargo liners. These two ships will certain- ly be among the most interesting ma- chinery jobs that the shipping world has seen for a good many years. The idea of an international tanker pool is now making excellent headway in Europe for, although the American 40) tanker owners are unfortunately not interested, the bulk of the British and Scandinavian oil interests have joined the scheme which holds out every hope of hardening rates, despite the failure of the previous scheme on somewhat similar lines which was limited to Scandinavian owners. The shipping department of the So- viet government is buying a good deal of tonnage from the various maritime powers, for it is admitted that the ship- ping and shipbuilding sections have been among the weakest spots in the five year plans. The Russians now realize that their ideal of a govern- ment merchant service consisting en- tirely of the most up-to-date motor- ships is unobtainable unless they are willing to spend a good deal more money abroad than they have avail- able, with the result that a number of British and other steamers are being bought in the open market including certain standard ships that were built during the war. In some cases cash is being paid, in others payment is spread over two years instead of the usual six upon which the Soviet gov- ernment has formerly insisted. They are also buying a number of fine Dutch tugs. The chartering clause that was care- fully inserted into the Anglo-Russian trade agreement seems to be having the desired effect on the number of British ships which are being taken up for Russia’s trade requirements, while her political quarrel with Greece is at the moment debarring Greek tramps altogether and giving the Brit- ish a still better chance. Russian shipping has been greatly helped re- cently, and will certainly benefit still more in the immediate future, by the real progress that has been made in the improvement of the various ports. At Easter the Port of London au- thority celebrated the twenty-fifth an- niversary of its birth and the oppor- tunity was taken to point out the im- mense difference that it has made since it took over all the docks of the Thames from the various private com- panies, generally bitterly antagonistic, which formerly owned them. It also has the control and conservancy of the river itself, although the river- side wharves are left to private own- ership and introduce a welcome ele- ment of healthy competition. At Southampton the gigantic scheme of improvement is making rapid progress, the first big part being prac- tically completed. The new King George V dry dock, the biggest in Eu- rope, has been completed and is in use so that the giant floating dock which was the wonder of its day is on the sale list. The long straight line of berthing pier is complete and in use. Behind it are many acres of reclaimed land offering ideal opportunities for the importing or exporting firms who have an eye on transport costs and which is already finding a number of good tenants. MARINE REVIEW—May, 1934 Hydro Electric Steering (Continued from Page 29) The whole system is charged with clean oil of grade SAE20 until all air is excluded from the cylinders, pip- ing, valves and pump. A stroke con- trol (2) is fitted to the tilting head (4) of the pump. This stroke control holds the pump in a predetermined position and a pipe connects same to, the pressure side of the pump. Con- sequently as the pressure in the sys- tem increases the stroke of the pump is automatically reduced. With this device it is impossible to overload or stall the motor under any conditions: of steering. A control valve (10) interposed in the piping between the cylinders and the pump distributes oil to either cylinder according to the direction it is desired to move the rudder. When the control valve is in the central position, oil from the pump is circu- lated through a bi-pass back to the pump. The instant the valve is moved out of its central position, the bi-pass is closed and oil is allowed to flow to one or the other of the eylinders. Follow-up mechanism is connected to this valve and consists of a floating lever (7), one end of which is connected by a link to the plunger of the steering gear and the other end by means of the transmis— sion to the pilot house. The transmission from the pilot house to the steering gear is usually hydraulic telemotor for large ships and line shafting or wire rope on smaller ships. Port of Boston (Continued from Page 36) co-operative efforts of the water and rail lines, and public officials. Boston’s advantageous geograph- ical situation in respect of Europe is an inalienable fact which is certain eventually to dominate passenger service and make this port the ter- minal for the fastest ships, whose lavishly expensive speed, designed to shorten the transatlantic passanger time, is to a notable degree nullified by the longer routes now unnecessar- ily followed to other ports. It is doubtful, all things consid- ered, if there is any factor of greater importance to the general welfare of New England than the commerce of the port of Boston. The vast an- nual expenditures of the steamship lines and other marine activities serving the port: the Savings in transportation costs, derived by the industries and merchants from the use of its facilities, and the employ- ment of thousands, are very practical benefits that filter throughout New England and which contributed much to the prosperity of this section,