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‘NOVEMBER 30, 1899. THE MARINE RECORD eee MECHANICS IN THE NAVY. The British Admiralty are experiencing great difficulty in - obtaining the requisite number of skilled mechanics to prop- erly man their vessels. We quote from an English exchange as follows: “Previous arrangements made with the object of attract- ing a regular supply of properly-qualified engine-room artificers for the navy having quite failed, and the establish- ment being about 500 below the necessary number, the Ad- miralty, on the advice of Mr. William Allan, M. P., Gates- head, have adopted a plan in which Great Britian has been mapped out into five marine engineering districts. In each _ of these districts is to be appointed an Admiralty agent, who must be a consulting engineer in touch with all the marine engineering works in the district, and consequently in the best position to obtain and select the best men. A substan- tial salary, as well as a capitation grant, is to be paid to each agent. The Admiralty approved Mr. Allan’s plan, and it has been put into operation, and the experiment will be tried for at least one year.’’ They are also having the same difficulty in retaining the services of competent civilian engineer talent, these matters having become so serious as to attract most serious at- tention. While a similiar state of affairs does not obtain to any great extent as yet in our own navy, itis becoming a matter of comment that the Navy Department, more especially in the department of engineering, has some difficulty in retaining the services of competent civilian talent, and while the en- thusiasm and chances for prize money in the late war at- tracted a sufficient number of mechanics, it is a question if the monotonous conditions of peace will not create a scar- city of desirable material wherewith to man our vessels. It is true that the conditions of enlisted menin our navy is much better and offers better pay than is the case in the services of other countries. But it would be wise to take care in keeping the service attractive to enlisted skilled labor, for modern naval vessels are manipulated by machinery ex- clusively, and the seaman has been succeeded by the me- chanic, and these mechanics are in a poiition to demand bet- ter conditions of service than was offered to the seamen of the past. In this connection it is singnlar that the naval school at Annapolis does not pay more attention to marine engineer- ing, and go the extent of assigning to part of each class of graduates commissions as ensign engineers, from whence they shall rise to lieutenant engineers, etc., as in the fighting branch of the service. Certainly unless something on this order is inaugurated, there will come a time when the dis- tinction of class between commissioned officers and civilian engineering talent will make the latter hesitate in entering the service. ,The enlisted mechanic also has, by his training, come to a realization of the necessity for his services, and unless the service is kept attractive may not care to enter it. ——— a OS SUSPENSION OF COASTING LAWS. OTTAWA, ONT. Special to The Marine Record. E. B. Osier, M. P., and B. M. Britton, M. P., headed a delegation that waited on the Government on Thursday, and protested against the suspension of the coasting laws on the lakes. In addition to declaring that the suspension was illegal, the delegates pointed out that it would ultimately destroy Canadian shipping and Canadian ship building. It was also shown that it was not necessary. Mr. Osier pointed out that only one American boat took advantage of it. Sir Wilfrid Laurier said that the other side of the question would have to be heard. However, the Government had only changed the law temporarily, and had no intention of making it permanent. The delegation insisted upon tempo- rary reciprocal privileges as the smallest returns which ought to be admitted. a Ooo THE Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department has, during the past year, made renewed efforts to obtain from persons sending merchandise from the United States into Canada a specific statement of the final destination of ship- ments, and it is believed that much of the apparent reduc- tion in the exportation of corn, wheat and flour to Canada ds due to the fact that during the present year shipments of this class into Canada destined for European ports were so designated instead of being, as too frequently happened in former years, simply declared as exports to Canada. THE COLLIS VALVE. (ILLUSTRATED. ) We have received from Messrs, Jenkins Bros., 71 John street, New York, cuts of the Collis circulating valve used for radiators, heating coils, etc. As so many heating de- vices are now used in freight as well as passenger steamers, it will be of value to our readers to learn from the manu- facturers that the Collis is not a new or untried valve but has long been experimented with by the ablest men in the heating business. The valve when attached toa radiator enables a perfect circulation of dry steam at all times up to the seat of the valve. Only one valve is required fora radiator and the circulation will be active and positive, whether the valve is open, partly open, or closed. Heating surfaces can be warmed much more quickly and effectively when steam is turned on at the radiator, and the usual ham- mer which takes place when steam is turned on, is prevented. Radiator connections can be neatly and economically at- tached to the valve without making them unsightly. With this valve there is a complete circulation in the ap- paratus when radiators are disconnected, and they can be disconnected and reconnected without shutting down the whole system. This will be found very convenient when using radiators for temporary heating on board of passenger steamers, buildings, etc. e aft : ill GH The Collis valve can be adopted for use with any of the automatic heat regulating systems by removing the regular bonnet and substituting the diaphragm bonnet and trim- mings of the regulating system that may be used. The valves are also made of the best steam metal, are extra heavy, contain all the improvements and are manu- factured, tested and inspected in the same careful manner as the Jenkins regular radiator valve. NOTES. ON July 19th, 1900, an International Congress of Naval Architecture will meet in Paris and will continue for three days. LARGE cargoes of iron ore and manganese ore have re- cently been discharged at Philadelphia, and other cargoes are due in a few days. These cargoes come from Spain, Elba, the Black Sea, British India, and Brazil. Our total imports of iron ore during the first nine months of 1899 amounted to 425,475 tons, and our total imports of man- ganese ore in the same period amounted to 118,811 tons. Iron ore is dutiable at 4oc a ton, but manganese ore is free of duty. THE American Institute of Marine Underwriters of Boston in consideration of the many disastersto shipping for the last year, is contemplating an advancein rates. The insti- tute is composed of representatives of leading marine insur- ance companies and any recommendation which that body may make will undoubtedly meet with compliance by every marine insurance company on the coast. The result may also affect the lake marine but not in the same proportions as it will in coast and ocean policies. THE Hanna-Payne Subsidy Bill will in all probability be introduced soon after the reassembling of the Fifty-sixth Con- gress on Monday, Dec. 4th, and will be pushed to a vote as rapidly as possible, and its advocates are confident of its early passage. The bill has been indorsed by the Chamber of Commerce committee, Boards of Trade, Boards of Trans- portation and similar bodies throughout the country, which goes to show that itis an important measure and for the welfare of the whole American people.—American Ship- | builder New York. In his annual report to the Secretary of the Navy, Chief Constructor Hichborn, in commenting upon the progress already made in the use of electricity for driving auxiliary machinery on naval vessels, recommended its extended use. He also referred tothe great amount of trouble, coupled with waste of space, occasioned by the docking of torpedo boats and destroyers in large drydocks, and asa substitute recommended the use of marine railways for the purpose, as the hulls of such vessels have to be inspected quite frequent- ly, because owing to the thinness of the plates used they are more liable to be vitally affected by corrosion. THE War Department which is quietly at work on the wireless telegraphy for the signal corps has been handicapped recently. both by lack of funds and officers to experiment on an extensive scale, but Captain Reiber, at Governor’s Island, New York, is carrying on a series of experiments be- tween that point and Tompkinsville with a view of adapting the army apparatus for communication between fortified point and in any other locations where the wireless system might prove superior in practice to the older form of telegraphy, The army is not dependent upon Marconi for instruments, it has developed a system of its own, and the work will be pushed on with vigor when Congress furnishes the necessary means. Dr. Lupwic Mack has successfully alloyed aluminum with magnesium, and thereby obtained a compound which can be worked like brass, and which is lighter still than alumi- num. These two metals are fitted for union says Engineer- ing. Theirdensitiesare: Magnesium, 1.75:aluminum, 2.75: they both melt at 800 degress Centigrade and their dilatations amount to 0.023 and 0.027 millimetres per metre and per degree Centigrade. The metallurgical properties depend upon the composition of thealloy. A 10 per cent. magnesium alloy resembles zinc, a 15 per cent alloy is like brass, and a 25 per cent like a compound bronze. The alloys can be sol- dered, it is stated, though that point does not appear to be fully settled, keep wellin dry and damp air, and give good castings. The well known scientific instrument maker Fuess speaks favorably of some magnalium samples, with from 10 to 12 per cent of magnesium, submitted to him. The alloy is almost as white as silver, and sufficiently hard to cut alum- inum with a sharp edged piece of magnalium. It can be turned, bored, etc., quite as well as brass, and clean and neat of a quarter of a millimetre pitch can be cut with ease. It does not file so steadily as brass, but is superior in this res- pect to copper, zinc, and aluminum. Magnalium is suitable for less mountings, and would make good divided circles and areas for instruments in which light weight isa consideration. If bought by volume it is a little less expensive than brass; but the statements concerning the strenght of this new alloy made by the Magnalium Co., of Berlin, are said not to be of any practical value.