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16 When, however, electrical ignition is used, the range is a little shortened, and it may be' stated that the limits of explosion are from'2 per cent to 5 per cent. With alcohol vapor mixed with air» the range over which the mixtures are explosive is much wider, and any percentage from 4 to 13.6 of alcohol vapor'in air will explode. The value' of this extra range must be manifest when one considers the dif- ficulty 'of getting an. exact mixture in'the cylinder; indeed, it would be practically impossible were it not for the fact that, both compression: and increase of temperature widen the range, and as in the cylinder before explosion compression gives a high temperature, both factors are at work, but the ratio of range for equal com~- pression 'will probably remain 'much the same as at atmospheric pressure. When the introduction of 'alcohol was first attempted abroad, it was feared that incomplete' combustion would givé 'acid products (acetic acid), which would corrode the valves: and 'metal work, but, I' am 'informed, experience with its use in 'Germany has shown that it is only when run- ning without a load that any tendency to the formation of acid showed it- self, and that it was easily got over. Another trouble found at: first was that alcohol did not volatize so read- ily as petrol, so that until the 'engine got warm there was trouble in getting proper carburation; but this again can easily be got over by a slight al- teration -in the carburettor, and there are some heavy gravity -petrols to be met with on: the .market which are nearly as bad in this respect. The great advantages in safety on which I' base my plea for experiments to be made with it' with the view of replacing petrol for the combustion engines on submarines are that it has a flash' point of 58 degs. closed to 64 degs.- open, and a boiling point of 173 degs. Fahr., so that, instead 'of giving off volumes of inflammable vapor at even low temperatures, as petrol. does (its flash point being: below the freez- ing point), it is safe at normal tem- peratures. Alcohol does:.not, "creep" in the same. way that petrol does, so there is' less: fear of leakage. from tanks and during storage. If any escape of alcohol vapor took place, being less than ~ one-half the weight of petrol vapor, it would dif- fuse more rapidly, and would not flow over the floor: space as the :petrol va- por does.. It 'requires twice .as much alcohol vapor as petrol to make an inflammable mixture with: air, and with the alcohol mixture combustion would be the flicker of a blue flame have? "THE Marine REVIEW through the air, while with petrol va- por it would be a violent explosion. The most important factor of safety, however, with alcohol is that it mixes with water; and, 'shoulda tank-of the spirit catch fire, flooding it at once extinguishes it. Petrol, however, hav- ing: a specific gravity of 0.68° to '0.74, and not.mixing with water, floats to the surface, and when once alight is almost impossible to extinguish with the means available afloat. FAVORS A BIG NAVY. That there will eventually be a con- flict between the yellow race and the white race that will shake the. earth is the opinion:of Justice John Mar- shall Harlan of the United States su- preme court. In an address before the Navy League of the United States last week, this eminent jurist, accord- ing to The. Washington Post, said; lice! 'had the opportunity I would vote for an 'appropriation of $50,000,- 000 a year for a period of 10 years. fOr 2) larger navy. The great impor- tance of a navy is shown in the con- stitution, which restricts the app. opri- ations for the army, but sets no limit for those for the navy. There is no such thing as friendship between na- tions as between men. Mon sacritice to 'pr eserve friendships and do not forbear to do certain things because they do not meet with the. approval of another nation. Do you think England cares a cent for what we think of her navy? Or Germany cares -a cent for what we think of her's?. , "Hlow darge a. navy. ought we to That is a question I.cannot answer any more than whether a hos- pital ship ought to be commanded by a naval officer or a surgeon.. I don't care how large a navy we have, but I want to see a navy large enough to take cane of .the Pacific and, Atlantic oceans and our ports on those oceans. "The trend of the immigration of the white people in the past has-been from the east to the west. There has been..none from the west. Just across the, water there-is.a country with an immense population whose. commerce we are seeking. We refer to the peo- ple of Asia as the yellow race. . There are .400,000,000 Chinese, as- strong physically and mentally as we are. "There,,is over there another nation whose people are progressive and am- bitious. We:may:some day see. a Sledeaanivesine apart of from 5,000,- 000 to .10,000,00. They will say: 'You claim. Europe as your country... This is ours. Get out!' .I don't think they have any such idea now, and-we have no hostility toward them. But there Nations make. will be a conflict between the yellow race and the white race that will shake the earth' When it comes 'I want to'see this country have a navy on both oceans a will be strong enough." TRANS-ISTHMIAN TRAFFIC. More than $40,000,000 worth of mer-' chandise originating in United States territory crossed ° the~ Isthmuses~ of Panama and Tehuantepec in 1907, most of it being interchanged between the eastern and western ports of the United States, including 'the Hawai- ian Islands, in this term. This total of more than $40,000,000 of trans-Isth- mian traffic in merchandise originating under the American flag is more than three times as much as 'that of any earlieryear. 'This sudden and: large increase in the interchange between Atlantic and. Pacific -ports' via the narrow strip -of land which separates those Oceans"is chiefly 'due* to the opening early' in 1907 of the Tehuantepec' Railway, which 'connects the waters of those two oceans' by a land-haul of' but' 190 miles, its termini being Coatzacoalcos: on the Atlantic' or Gulf of Mexico side and Salina ~G@ruz on the* Pacific-side. This enterprise of connecting the two oceans by this short land haul of less than 200 miles was planned before the construction of the earliest transconti- nental railway in the United States, the first concession for the road hav- ing been granted by the Mexican gov- ernment in 1857.- This and subsequent concessions having failed' to produce results, the Mexican government in 1882 itself took up the work, making a series of contracts under which a. road was completed from ocean to ocean in 1894; but owing to defective conditions its partial reconstruction became necessary, and this reconstruc- tion was accomplished through a part- nership arrangement entered into by the Mexican government with a Brit- ish firm, the road having been actual- ly opened for business in January, 1907, Modern:steel docks at the east- ern and western termini permit the transfer by steam and electric power of merchandise from the hold of the vessel direct- to the car standing on the dock alongside the vessel, and the retransfer from car to vessel by. the same manner. The time occupied in shipment across the isthmus is less than 24 hours, and the entire time occupied in the transfer from the hold Of sOlen vessel stOmiimat aon the other, vessel less than 48 hours. Regularly established steamship lines now run between Coatzacoalcos, at the Gulf end, and Philadelphia and New York,