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M A R I N E VICTORIAN CROSSES THE ATLANTIC The Allan liner Victorian, the first Atlantic liner to be equipped with turbines, reached Halifax this week after a successful passage from Liverpool. No attempt was made to push the vessel, the steamer crossing in the ordinary time but with marked absence of vibration and, therefore, greater com- fort for the passengers. The highest speed made was about 16 knots and the average about 14. A striking difference is presented between the engine room of the Victorian and that of any other large steamship. In place of the complex structure of cylinders, piston rods and cranks revolving with imposing pulsations, we see only the upper halves of three huge horizontal iron cylinders, 7 ft. in. diameter and about twice that length. The steam generated in eight double-ended boilers passes into the engine room through large pipes. It is first of all turned into the high pressure turbine, which is between the low pressure tur- bines, for the Victorian is a triple-screw ship. The engines are of 15,000 I. H. P., and the pressure at the point where the steam enters is 180 lbs. to the sq. in. If we were to open out the high pressure turbine in. sec- tions we should see the inside grooved like the nut of a screw bolt, the groove becoming wider and deeper from the end where the steam is turned in to that at which it passes out. The groove to begin with is about an inch in depth and rather more than an inch in width; to end with the groove is nearly six' inches in depth and three 'in width. And in the low pressure turbines the groove at the starting end is of the same size and depth as at the exit point of the high pressure cylinder, while at the point where the steam finally issues as exhaust the groove is a foot in depth and of correspotd- ing width. But in this endless groove are set transversely at close intervals a multitude of small blades. These are of the same depth, and not quite half the width of the groove; are put close up to the edge on one side and leave a space on the other. The look of the thing is not unlike the gills of an immense fish. The end of the propeller shaft,. enlarged for _the sake of leverage, fits exactly the inside of the cylinder. Round this enlarged shaft head are set what appears like a screw thread, which is found, however, to consist of innumer- able small blades not unlike the blades of a propeller. In the engines of the Victorian these blades number 750,000. These blades fit into and revolve in the space left in the grooves by the blades in the "gills," so that when the blade in the shaft and the blade in the groove are in line they quite fill the passage. Now when thé steam enters the groove it cannot get past without forcing the blade on the propeller shaft out of the way. In doing so it finds: itself similarly blocked in the next tiny compartment, and the process is re- peated.. The result is that the steam struggles through the grooves in what' may be called a state of acute torture, driv- ing the propeller blades before it. The process is one of in- conceivable rapidity, for the propeller shafts of the Victorian make 220 complete -revolutions per minute; revolving, that is to say, four times as fast as the oft ary marine reciprocat- ing engine. The chief difficulty in the construction of the marine tur- bine is one of finish and measurement. 'The blades have to be graduated in size with mathematical nicety and placed with mathematical accuracy. They have to' be shaped and fitted with great skill, and fixed solidly. A loose blade would bring the whole affair to grief. But at the workshops of Work- man, Clark & Co., Ltd. Belfast, by whom the Victorian was built, the fittings were subjected to severe tests. A pressure of one ton applied to the smallest blades, failed to affect them in the least. It is manifest that between a ton and a pressure of 180 lbs. the co-efficient of safety is enormous. These being the first turbine engines turned out by Workman, R E V A ££ | fF Clark & Co., their successful construction is looked upon as no slight feat. The sister ship and engines are now being built by Messrs. Stephen on the Clyde. The controlling gear is fitted on to the inlet steam pipes, and apart from this, there are on the main engines no wheels or levers of any kind. All the working parts are enclosed. The lubrication of the bearings is done by an oil pump work- ing automatically. The oil is first forced through a cooler, and from that pumped through the working parts, returning to the reservoir at the end of the circulation. In this way the parts run in oil, and the staff of greasers needed is consider- able. The propeller shaft bearings are kept cool by jets of water, and the turbines themselves are encased in heat-resisting ma- terial a foot thick, so that the outside cases are quite cool to the touch. When the engines are reversed the high-pressure turbine which operates the central shaft is shut off, and the steam forced through the low-pressures the reverse way. This can be done, because the low-pressures then receive the full force of the steam. It should be added that in steaming ahead the power after passing through the high-pressure cylinder is divided and carried back to fed the low-pressures in equal proportions. ,Owing to their high rate of velocity, the screws of the Victorian are only 8 ft. in diameter, the blades being 3 ft. in length. All are of the same size. The propeller shafts, of wrought steel, are in consequence of less than ordi- nary dimensions, which saves both weight and cost. The parts have been turned with great exactitude to ensure the shafts being perfectly straight. Should it be deemed advisable to increase still further the ship's speed, either finer propeller blades or larger propellers will achieve that result, This, however, is a matter dependent on experience. On board the Victorian the usual pulsation of a ship's engines is reduced to a scarcely perceptible tremor, and the heat of the ordinary engines is teplaced by a humming, rather soothing than dis- agreeable. The engines being enclosed, the engine room is quite free from all odor of hot oil. These things add so much to the comfort of the ship that the sensation is quite novel. She seems in traveling to glide through the water under the influence of some hidden power. The Victorian is not only the largest, but by far the most commodious, of the ships which the owners of the Allan Line have yet built. Her fittings and decorations are'in the im- proved taste noticed in new ships of other companies--comfort everywhere being preferred to show. She has accommodations for 250 first, 350 second and 1,000 third class passengers. The first class dining saloon, fitted with oak, relieved by panel- lings of silk tapestry and paintings, is solid and elegant with- out being grandiose. It extends the full width of the ship, which is of ample beam to insure her being a good sea boat, and the thorough ventilation is further improved by an octagonal dome, decorated with colored glass. The second class dining saloon, of equal dimensions and similar plan, presents a corresponding scheme of decoration. Jt is equal to the first class in older ships. The new Isthmian Canal Commission has been constituted as follows: Theodore P. Shontz, chairman; Charles E. Ma- goon, governor of canal zone; John F. Wallace, chief en; gineer; Rear Admiral M. T. Endicott, U. S. Navy; Brigadier General Peter C. Haines, U. S. Army; Col. Oswald H. Ernst, corps of engineers, U. S. A.; Mr. Benjamin M. Harrod. The members of the commission are to receive a salary of $7,500 per annum each with an extra allowance of $22,500 for the chairman, $17,500 for the chief engineer and $10,000 for the governor of the zone. The head of each department is allowed the use of a furnished house on the isthmus and his traveling expenses.