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ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. E. RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON,~ - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - $2.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - - $3.00 Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application, All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, O. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. CLEVELAND, O., OCTOBER 31, 1901. A ee ee eee NAVAL ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS. The annual report of the Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, which has just been published, contains the usual amount of valuable technical data and suggestions which the country has been pleased to receive so regularly at the hands of Admiral Melville, U.S. N. Among the en- gineering requirements to which the attention of the gov- ernment is called are the following: As stated in several annual reports the experimental work for which an urgent appropriation is requested is only for such purposes as will directly benefit the naval service and the engineering profession at large. Incidentally it will be of incalculable benefit for the testing of many patent appliances which inventors offer for a government test, and which may prove useful or economical for the naval service. Some of the engineering questions which need elucidation by experiment have been given in my last annual report: The liquid fuel tests are progressing. There are other im™ portant questions which should be investigated, but by reason of the lack of a properly equipped experimental laboratory, such research must be postponed. This Bureau receives many letters every year from respon- sible parties seeking professional information which the Bureau should supply. The number of such requests would be greatly increased if the Bureau had facilities and oppor- tunities for conducting necessary and instructive tests. The leading marine engine builders, consultiag engineers ‘and talented professors at various technological schools have repeatedly urged me to impress upon the department and the Congress the necessity for sucha laboratory. It can hardly be expected that individual shipbuilders and the scientific colleges should be subjected to the expense of conducting tests that are primarily for the benefit of the naval service. It may often be the case that there are mili- tary reasons why the Navy Department shouid not receive this information through others. Every leading university considers it imperative to do original work and research, _ and the government should certainly carry on such tests if the accruing results are likely to lead to increased naval efficiency. The following are some of the problems that the Navy . should at least assist in solving: The best means of utilizing liquid for naval and maritime uses: A new impetus has been given the consideration of this subject by reason of the discovery of the Texas and California crude-oil fields. The value of the steam turbine for naval purposes: he British Admiralty regards this subject as of vital importance, and the success achieved with the two torpedo boat destroy- ers installed with this appliance warrants increased atten- tion being given to the matter. THE MARINE RECORD. Form and size of propellers; their location with reference to the keel and sternpost; the character and area of the blade. The experience of the various torpedo-boat builders during the past five years conclusively shows the necessity of extended investigation of this subject. The tests made by this Bureau twenty-five years ago were exceedingly valu- able, and urgent requests have been made that more experi- ments of this nature be conducted. The value of electricity asa prime mover for naval pur- poses: Inthe United States Navy the use of electricity is more extended than in that of any other service. Its en- durance for naval purposes has been seriously questioned by others. Systematic tests and experiments would undoubt- edly prove exceedingly beneficial. The corrosion of boiler and condenser tubes: The rapid deterioration of both boiler and condenser tubes seriously decreases the engineering efficiency of the modern warship. The Bureau has made some important tests in connection with this matter, but the necessity for further investigation and experiment is exceedingly apparent. The best form and type of water-tube boilers for naval purposes: There are military and tactical reasons why our navy should soon settle upon an approved type of boiler. There are so many factors that will interfere with boiler ef- ficiency that extended experiments are necessary to secure valuable information upon the subject. In the investiga- tion of this subject alone a very liberal appropriation could be profitably expended. The possible advantages resulting from extended use of compressed air asa motor: Particularly at navy yards, and even upon repairs to ships in commission, the extended use of compressed air could be advantageously employed. The balancing of marine engines: There is a progressive tendency to increased piston speeds, and with each succeed- ing year the necessity for more perfect balancing becomes necessary. The development of the storage battery for marine pur- poses: The discovery of a storage battery of decreased weight but increased endurance will greatly advance the use of electric motors in the service. The perfection of a more reliable and efficient gas engine: The danger attending the use of this motor now makes it inadvisable for extended use in the Navy. Extended investigation as to the best forms of steam, hy- draulic and pneumatic joints: By reason of the develop- ment of the water-tube boiler the tendency is toward in- creased pressure. Considerable trouble has been experi- enced in making joints. In the solution of these important problems the matter of expert talemt is very important in conducting tests. It can never be doubted but that a capable and strong force of en- gineer officers will always be stationed at the Naval Academy, and therefore there will always be available highly trained officers for conducting experiments if the engineer- ing laboratory is established at Annapolis. a OS Tue British Admiralty have obtained expressions of opin- ion from leading builders of torpedo boat destroyers with regard to certain contemplated changes to economize weight and facilitate repairs on vessels of that type. Several de- stroyers are soon to be built, and it is intended not only to give them increased size and seaworthiness, but also to en- large their radius of action by providing for larger coal ca- pacity even at the expense of speed. In something like half of the 100 of these boats, which have been added to the British fleet within the last three years, the speed rate was 30 knots or over, reaching 32 in the Arab, 33 in the Express, 35 8-10 in the ill-fated Cobra and 36 58-100 in the Viper. In the boats now in contemplation the maximum rate will be only 27 knots. There is this difference, however: The de- stroyers now afloat are capable of maintaining their maxi- mum speed for only three hours with half a load of coal aboard, while the new ones are expected to maintain 27 knots for four hours with a full supply of coal. To obtain these advantages weights must be rigorously economized, and prospective contractors have been asked whether the two sets of engines could not be built closely back to back, in- stead of separately, so that one central framing or support for the engines might suffice. The court of inquiry to in- vestigate the wrecking of the Cobra, above mentioned, on Sept. 18, whereby upwards of 70 lives were lost, has reported that the vessel simply collapsed because she was structurally weak, that she did not touch ground and that no errors were made in her navigation. The purchase of the Cobra for the government is condemned by the court. OCTOBER 31, IQOI. NAVAL RESERVES. Naval officers and others interested in naval affairs have for years been directing the attention of Congress, through the Secretary of the Navy, to the fact that in time of war not one-half of the vessels of the navy could be manned on account of the lack of trained sailors. But no action has ever been taken in the matter, generally on account of the lack of influence. This defect, however, is said to have been strongly felt by President Roosevelt when he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and now that he is President it is said that he will devote part of his annual report to Congress to recommending the organization of a national naval reserve. Under the pressure thus brought to bear friends of the navy are confident that Congress will pass a : bill creating a naval militia of national scope. Such an organization would include all State naval reserves now in existence, or rather all members fit for service, and yachtsmen and sailors. The number joining this reserve would at first be about 5,000, but could be in- creased later on. The British navy has for a long period been reinforced by such an auxiliary, and there many of the retired naval officers are placedinthereserve. Each militia- man would be required to drill on board a war-ship fora. time not less than one week nor more than a month each year. The training time could easily be arranged for the convenience of the reserve. For instance, sailors on the Great Lakes could be assigned to duty on a warship in southern waters during the winter when navigation would be closed. —— or OS MAGNETIC INSTRUMENTS ON SHIPBOARD. Capt. E. W. Creak, F.R.S., had much that was interest- ing to tell his audience in the paper on ‘‘New Instruments for Magnetic Work on Board Ship,’’ which he read before the British Association on the 18th inst, says the London Shipping World. Starting with the premise that one of the objects of those in the Discovery was to make as complete a magnetic survey of the regions south of the 4oth parallel as possible, the author pointed out that, as the greater portion of that region was open sea, with few chances of landing, the major portion of the survey must be conducted on board ship. The previous experience in H. M.S. Erebus and Terror, both wooden ships, showed the serious effects of iron in those ships in disturbing the magnetic instruments on board. In the case of the Discovery, with engines, boilers and other iron bodies on board, magnetic observations would be almost impossible but for the precaution of first choosing a place for the magnetic observatory in the ship, and then insuring that no iron of any kind should be allowed to be placed within a 30-foot radius from that position. been thus prepared, the important question of a reliable instrument for observing the magnetic dip and total force on board of her arose. After referring to Mr. R. W. Fox’s dip and intensity apparatus, Capt. Creak said that previous experience having © shown that the use of needles with cylindrical axles resting on agate planes, either for dip or force, was impossible, the trials he had made with various forms of needles and jewels resulted in his adopting a form of both. By this arrange- ment the needles could be retained in place even when the gimbal table upon which the instrument was placed was subject to irregular motions due to those of the ship. With the circle thus fitted the absolute dip and total force could be observed in accordance with the usual methods described in the Admiralty manual of scientific inquiry. As there must be a slight oscillation of the needles at times when the ship was unsteady in a seaway, he had arranged that the ends of the needles should come so near the graduated arc that the readings might be made directly, without the use of verniers. As in the land instrument, the reading of the circle could a be accurately made at night or during the Antartic winter by placing a candle at the back of the circle, when the light would be reflected by the ivory face of the microscopes to the graduated arc. The zero of the graduation on the base plate was so placed that whenever the magnectic direction of the ship’s head was known to the compass adjacent and - the plane of the circle, it could be immediately placed on the magnetic meridian without the trouble of finding the meradian by the usual method. a The excursion steamer Gazclle has been sold by the U. S. 4 The purchaser is Daniel Ma- — marshal at Buffalo for $2,6co. honey, head of the Commercial Oil Co. The ship having — Pe Se eS Diet et iar ee