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eZ . Engines of Modern Atlantic Coast Steamers. HORACE SEE, NAVAL ARCHITECT. Horace See, engineer and naval architect of New York, has been prominently connected with the work of constructing in the east some of the best steel steamers of the American mer- chant marine. A portrait of Mr. See and an engraving of triple expansion engines recently constructed under his direction are presented on this page. For about twenty years previous to 1889, Mr. See, who is now located in New York asa consulting and constructing engineer, was connected with the ship building firm of Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia. He designed the machin- ery and superintended the construction of many well known vessels, among which may be mentioned the United States cruisers Philadelphia and Newark, dynamite cruiser Vesuvius, gunboats Yorktown, Concord and Bennington, yachts Atalanta and Corsair, steamships El Mar, El Monte, El Sud, El Norte and El Rio of the Mor- gan Line, Tacoma, San Pedro and San Pablo of the Central Pacific Railroad Company's line, Cara- cas, Valencia, Philadelphia and Venezuela of the Red D line, Mariposa and Alameda of the Spreckels line, and the twin screw steamboat Monmouth. The engines shown here are those of the Mor- gan line steamship El Rio, a steel freight boat, built under the superintendency of Mr. See by the Newport News Ship Building and Dry Dock Com- pany of Newport News, Va., and intended for the New York and New Orleans route. The en- gines are of the triple expansion type, cylinders 32, 52 and 84 inches diameter by 54 inches stroke. The distribution of steam in the high pressure cy]l- inder is controlled by one piston valve; another valve of the same type performs a similar duty for the intermediate cylinder, and two piston valves are used for the low pressure cylinder. 'The steam is introduced in the middle of each valve, which prevents the high pressure steam from coming in contact 'with the valve stem stuffing boxes. All are worked by See-Marshall valve gear, and each valve receives its motion from a separate eccentric. The valves are placed as close as~--possible to their respective cylinders. In the high pressure and in- termediate valve gear, levers are introduced and ME connected to the valve stem and valve gear in such ® n a manner as to cause the weight of the valve to counterbalance the weight of the connections below -- the lever, thereby dispensing with counterbalancing - cylinders. The engines are reversed by steam. The main pistons are provided with patent adjust- MARINE REVIEW. able followers. Each follower is cut in three parts, so as to ad- mit of adjustment to compensate for wear and centering without the employment of tail rods, and will at the same time insure a steam tight piston without undue friction. These followers are applicable to horizontal, vertical or inclined engines. The piston rods of the El Rio are 714 inches diameter. The crank shaft is 16% inches diameter; crank pin 16% inches diam- eter by 16% inches long; crosshead pins, 8 inches diameter, 9% inches long. 'The shaft is fitted with Smith's adjustable thrust bearing, consisting of go-ahead and backing bearings. The air pump, single acting, is 32 inches diameter, stroke 25 inches. The total cooling surface in the condenser is 6,400 square feet. Steam is furnished by three double-ended boilers, 13 feet 10 in- ches diameter, and 20% feet long. Each of the boilers contains six corrugated furnaces of 43 inches inside diameter. The total grate surface is 4oo square feet; total heating surface 10,650 square feet; working steam pressure 165 pounds. 'The propeller is a built-up one with four blades and is 18 feet diameter, with 22 feet pitch. On her trial trip the El Sud, which is a sister ship of the El Rio, and whose engines are a duplicate of those here shown, developed 3,362 indicated horse power, with a steam pressure of 165 pounds, and running at a speed of 73 revolutions per minute. 'The El Norte is another vessel of this same type recently delivered to the Southern Pacific Company, and still another, not named is on thestocks. These boats, built accord- ing to the rules of the American Shipmasters' Association, are all of about 4,500 tons register and they are valued at $525,000. Their principal dimensions are: Length between stem and after side of propeller post, 380 feet; length over all, 406 feet; breadth of beam, moulded, 48 feet; depth from top of keel to top of up- per deck beams, lowest part of sheer, 33.9 feet. They have three decks and a partial overlop deck at fore end of fore hold, with iron houses on the awning deck, and are rigged with four iron pole masts. The plant of the Newport News company, the builders, contains seventy-five acres ot land, has a water frontage of 2,600 feet and buildings covering seven acres. Credit is due to the American Machinist and American Shipbuilder for en- gravings appearing with this article. : rit: Jy \