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MARINE REVIEW gues AND MARINE RECORD. _ Esrssusuto,1979. See Kee CLEVELAND, O., FEB. 26, 1903. : Vol. XXVII a Wane Bide: i 'ihe Eastern Office, 1023 Maritime Bidg., New York City rere So sear. No. 9 = Marine Review Pub. Co: Chicago Office, 373 Dearborn St. [Entered at Cleveland Post Office as second-class matter.] i $4.50 year. Single Copy Io cents. DELAY IN WARSHIP CONSTRUCTION. President Roosevelt has been investigating the delay in the construction of warships at the various ship yards. He has held a number of interviews with the secretary of the navy on the subject and this week authorized the publication of the fol- lowing statement: "The matter of the delay in the completion of vessels of the navy now under construction has been the subject of an interest- ing correspondence between the president and secretary of the navy. Much comment has been caused by the fact that so many vessels have run over contract time, and by many months. Under date of Feb. 14 the president called the matter to the at- tention of the secretary of the navy. The secretary's reply with the accompanying statement by Admiral Bowles, chief construc- tor, covers the subject exhaustively and shows that while through a number of causes the building of war vessels has been delayed and the dates of their completion have been and will be consid- erably beyond the dates originally set, naval construction in the United States is not materially behind the naval construction of England and Germany in the matter of time." Admiral Bowles in his report says the delays in construc- tion may, in general, be attributed to one or more of seven causes which, in brief, are as follows: "First--Inadequate plans, due to the great haste in preparing plans in order to get the ships under contract as soon as possi- ble after congress authorizes them. 'This is now overcome by the demand of congress that plans -shall be completed before it authorizes ships. : Second--Changes in the disposition of armor or armament, or in the details of the designs after the award of the contract-- simply a corollary of the first cause. "Third--Delays in delivery of armor and ordnance, due to the development of improved but tedious processes, long contro- versies over prices and the limited capacity of armor plants. "Fourth--Delays due to governmental inspection, it being claimed that the inspection given to United States war vessels and their material is more complete than that given by any other nation. "Fifth--Delays due to slowness of delivery of steel and other structural materials by subcontractors, which is attributed to the phenomenal demand since 1898 throughout the world for ordi- nary commercial grades of structural material, which taxes the capacity of manufacturers, who are therefore reluctant to fur- nish the very high grade products demanded for naval work, the higher quality being not only difficult to make, but less profitable. "Sixth--Delays due to inadequate facilities or insufficient ability in the contractors' technical staff, the blame in this case being laid on a construction of the law compelling an award to the lowest responsible bidder, and to the policy of so awarding contracts as to encourage small plants to enlarge their facilities; also, in part, to the unsatisfied demand throughout the country for skilled technical assistants. "Seventh--Delays due to an inadequate supply of skilled workmen, resulting from the withdrawal from the merchant ser- vice for the auxiliary navy and for army transports in 1898 of a large part of the registered American tonnage, the replacing of which created a ship building boom, only now falling off 'owing to the failure of the subsidy bill' " OIL FUEL TESTS ON BOARD SHIP. In many yards, both in this country and abroad, where steamships are built or repaired, announcement of widespread preparations are being made to install oil-burning apparatus. The latest step in this direction was the recent cable announce- ment that some vessels of the British navy have started on a cruise burning nothing but oil, including battleships and cruisers.. All around New York are to be found ships with the new equipment. One of the-vessels which is being transformed is the British Queen, which .was so much damaged in the second Hoboken fire that she has been under the hands of the car- penters ever since. Another is the Washtenaw, a tramp of 2,003 tons. A small fleet of coastwise traders has been turned into an oil-burning merchant squadron already, and the Standard Oil Co. is also conducting elaborate experiments. The Red Star liner Kensington was the first great steam- ship to cross the Atlantic with oil fuel, making the trip between here and Antwerp last fall. Beyond say- ing that the preliminary test was successful, the offi- cers of the International Navigation Co. made _ public no details of the experiment, stating that they would do so after some more voyages had been made. The Kensington went out of commission temporarily about that time, and so the additional trips are yet to come. 'The oil was used in the forward burner, a "single ender," and the flames were applied to the tubes through jets placed at intervals under the boilers. Chief Engi- neer Perrie was in charge and reported that all the defects evi- denced in a previous unsuccessful test had been overcome. 'The officers of the company, after an investigation, admit that the ex- periment tended to show that oil was destined to occupy a prom- inent place as fuel. It is learned that careful comparative tables to show the difference in results obtained from coal and oil were made out each day of the trip, but the figures are being withheld until they have been substantiated further. The single-ended boiler of the steamship had four furnaces, and the reason the initial experiment was not more extensive was that the vessel was fitted with the induced system of forced draft, which had not had apparatus for burning oil successfully adapted to it. The Kensington, which is a sister ship of the Southwark and of 8,669 tons displacement, is expected to solve the problem finally on her next few voyages. smone oil-burning vessels which have left New York re- cently is the Anstice, which started for Texas after her coal bunkers had been supplanted by oil tanks. The largest tug in the world, the Luckenbach, burns oil, and has been chartered by a Texas company to transport the new fuel up and down the coast, carrying her total capacity of 25,000 barrels each trip. She makes a speed of 14 knots an hour. A steamship of 3,928 tons displacement, the Strombus, ar- rived in Boston from Cardiff, burning oil, soon after the Ken- sington's test trip from Antwerp to New York. The Strombus used about 30 tons of oil a day and it was stated that 4o tons of coal a day would have been required to maintain the speed she made. It is a question of much difference of opinion among steamship men as to whether coal will be replaced altogether by oil as fuel used for transoceanic travel, and even those who argue affirmatively admit that final proofs have not been forthcoming. On the other side, it is argued that the great recent demand for oil-burning vessels has been due almost altogether to the Texas trade, and that vessels engaging in this trade, being enabled to get oil at special rates naturally could better afford to burn it, whereas the general pufrchaser might not find it as economical as coal. FUEL OIL ON PACIFIC STEAMERS. It is claimed that oil will soon replace coal as fuel on nearly all of the Pacific steamers if tests now being made on the Pacific Mail line prove successful. All of the Oceanic Steamship Co.'s steamers will soon be refitted with oil burners, so successful have been the results with the Alameda and Mariposa. 'These two steamers are of 3,000 tons burden and run to Honolulu and Tahiti. The Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura are soon to be taken ~ off the Australian run for the purpose of refitting them with oil burners. On the recent record-breaking trip of the Korea from San Francisco to Honolulu, when the record was lowered over six hours, two experts were on board with a view to acquaint- ing themselves with the working of the vessel and to ascertain what is needed to make her into an oil. burner. On the steamers where the oil has been tried it has been found to be more economi- cal, and there is hardly any more danger than with the use of bituminous fuel. The Pacific Mail company is now considering the use of oil on the Korea, and it would not be surprising if a change were made upon her return from the orient. JOINT HIGH COMMISSION MAY RECONVENE. It is learned that Senator Fairbanks has addressed Sir Wil- fred Laurier respecting a reconvention of the joint high commis- sion in pursuance of the program outlined when the Alaskan boundary treaty was ratified. Sir Wilfred and Senator Fair- banks are respectively the chairmen of the joint commission and when that body adjourned in 1900 it was with the understanding that it could be reconvened only by the mutual agreement of the two chairmen. The Alaska boundary was the rock upon which the com- mission split at its last meeting. Now it is the purpose, the boundary matter having been eliminated by arrangement to submit it to a special commission, to take up again and adjust the same propositions that were under consideration when the joint high commission adjourned. One of the propositions in which the state department is most interested is that relative to lake ship building and it is hoped that an arrangement can be made by which the United States navy can profit by the splendid . resources of the lake ship builders, the probable basis being a strict limitation upon the period of time that newly constructed naval vessels may remain in the lakes after completion and per- haps a requirement that their guns be placed only after they are in salt water.