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July, 1916 lay if our elevated structures, various types of railway and highway bridges, fireproof hotels, storehouses, great rail- road stations and depots were built on the ground they are intended to occupy and after the manner in which many of our shipyards now prepare ship materials and assemble them in the finished structure. Construction Facilities Excellent. “The golden opportunity is there- fore now open here in the United States for the systematic development of a method of ship construction never equaled in this or in any other country, however advanced or devel- oped. For primarily our iron de- posits are of the higher order both in quality and quantity, which will al- ways insure the best shipbuilding ma- terial at prices that can and will prob- ably always equal any competition from whatever source it may come, and on a scale unequaled in any other quarter of the globe. Our tacilities for construction exist both inland and coastwise, and are unexcelled by any other commercial nation, and condi- tions are now existent and urgent for an immediate increase of the nation’s: merchant marine, on a large, if not on a heroic scale. The golden oppor- tunity is therefore open for some of our great steel plants to develop a thoroughly well-standardized and effi- cient system of supply of dimension materials, shaped and punched, ready for assembling in the standard ship of specific dimensions at tidewater, or where the fabricated mass can be launched or floated. “Such a system of standard ship construction anticipates standard mod- els, on fixed schedules of scantling, for a vessel. throughout of fixed co- effcients of fineness. Starting, say, with 1,000 tons deadweight capacity, and a coefficient of 75 per cent of the vessel’s length, breadth and depth, the next of like dimensions and of, say, 80 per cent coefficient, and so on, in like dimensions for vessels of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10 thousand tons each, such ves- sels to be built to standard schedules of scantling, approved, when designed. to government and underwriting re- quirements, thus assuring acceptance under all conditions for any naviga- tion of the globe and the transporta- tion of dry and perishable cargoes under any conditions existent in any part of the world. Such standardized vessels should be modeled on demon- strated lines of efficiency and least re- sistance from tank experiments, as was demonstrated years ago in Eng- land by the great engineer and scien- tist, William Froude, and more re- cently brought down to practical re- ‘sale method possible. hull of any. THE MARINE REVIEW sults under Mulford, of William Den- ny & Sons, of Dumbarton, but in no such elaborate and successful manner as now practiced at the Washington navy yard under the supervision of Admiral David W. Taylor, chief con- structor of the navy. “In this connection it may be well to note the great progress being made in the engineering field with internal combustion engines, both in this coun- try and in Europe. These internal combustion engines now offer assist- ance of as good or better results than are now produced by steam engines, and on a much less weight per horse- power developed. The great curtail- ment in the number of large modern cargo carriers, incident to the de- struction and loss during the Euro- pean war, is calculated to make mediate development of American ship building industry necessary, if not urgent, in the production of effi- cient cargo ships by the most whole- This suggests the advantage, if not the necessity, of the restoration of our ship build- ing industry at its source, namely, the steel works, from which all the mem- bers of the structure emanate. im- Standardization Means Increased Profits “It is a generally recognized prin- ciple of manufacture that standardiza- tion of output invariably increases profits to producers. In English ship- yards it is recognized that as small a number as three ships, constructed in the same yard and exactly similar in all respects, can be produced for 15 per cent less per ship than if built separately. Therefore, a well worked out system of standarization in the construction of freight ships should, without a doubt, produce as good or better results. Many experts, whose opinions are entitled to great con- sideration, fix the saving much higher. “Modern experience in shipbuilding shows that such methods have been successful in Great Britain, and with the increasing demand for American tonnage the prospects of similar achievements in this country are en- couraging. Naval architects of inter- national renown are indorsing the sug- gestion and hope to see an early start in this direction made in the United States. In fact, the idea has already been initiated in the United States, ships having been constructed in an Atlantic coast ship yard, then taken apart, shipped to the Pacific coast, and there re-assembled into the fin- ished ships. “As our country’s great steel works row possess facilities and capacity for the perfection of the various details of ship construction herein referred 250 to and outlined, ‘they can doubtless quickly bring the United States to the front as the first ship building nation of the earth in the production of standard cargo-carrying steamships, to which our unlimited quantities of high quality but cheap materials will greatly contribute.. With standardized cargo carriers thus under great head- way our shipyards gradually will be- come more and more expert in the construction of all types of merchant ships that go to make up a general marine. The opportunity and all of the accessories requisite and necessary for American success are ours”, New West Indian Line Alfred Weller, for many years freight manager of the Quebec Steamship Co., has resigned to accept a similar position with the Rapurel Steamship Co., E. M. Raphel & Co., agents, New York. The latter company, which has been operating a direct steamship service be- tween New York and Cayenne, French Guiana, for the past year, has decided to establish a regular line from New York to Haitien ports, the Windward Islands and Demerara. The first sailing in the new service was the American steamer ELizABETH Weems, which cleared for Port au.-Prince, St. ‘Marcy ‘Jacme) Gaudeloupe and Martinique. ‘This boat was followed by Eric II, which sailed for Haitien ports, Guadeloupe, Domini- ca and Martinique the Imperator for Demerara direct. — . The company has acquired new Pier 1, North River, Battery place, as a load- ing berth. Pennsylvania Commis- sioned The new superdreadnaught PENNSyYL- VANIA came to the Norfolk navy yard recently from her builders at Newport News, with Captain H. B. Wilson com- manding. With her 12 14-inch rifles, four 21-inch torpedo tubes and 22 5-inch guns, the PENNSYLVANIA is considered by American experts the most powerful warship afloat. She displaces 32,000 tons. A description of the trial tests of PENNSVLANIA appeared in a recent issue of The Marine Review. The Russian embargo on cargoes, to the port of Archangel, other than those consigned to the government, is seriously affecting shippers here. Fully 23 vessels, it is asserted, are tied up in the port of New York be- cause they cannot get permits to enter Archangel. Some of these vessels are already loaded and the others are ready to load, all with ordinary commercial products.