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20 MARINE REVIEW. PROGRESS OF SHIP BUILDING IN JAPAN. From Engineering, London. The yearly returns of ship building show the progress Japan is mak- ing towards the supply of her own fleet--both war and mercantile. The return of production last year gave 792 tons as the total displacement of warships built at the three principal government dock yards, and 19,971 as the gross tonnage of steel vessels built for the mercantile marine. In the private yards the industry is being fostered by a subsidy of £2 per gross ton on all ships exceeding 1,000 tons, of a somewhat less sum for ships between 700 and 1,000. tons, and a further subsidy of 10s. per indi- cated horse power of propulsive machinery. Whether from_ patriotic motives or the stimulus of these subsidies, the private ship builders are, indeed, bestirring themselves and seeking to bring their works, their em- ployes and themselves, into line with best modern practice. aa Dealing first with the government dock yards, the three principal establishments are: One at Yokosuka, in the Bay of Tokio; one at Kure, in the Inland Sea; and one at Sasebo, on the west side of the island of Kyushu. They are all equipped for repairs rather than for new work, and in this respect form rather a contrast with the private yards. Whatever her ambition may be, there is at present no sign that Japan is prepafing to build her own battleships or large cruisers. At each of the two estab- lishments, Kure and Yokosuka, a third-class cruiser has been commenced, but nothing larger seems to be as yet in contemplation. All these three government establishments, on the other hand, have magnificent graving docks. At Yokosuka there are two, while a third is in course of construc- tion which will be capable of accommodating any warship at present afloat or belonging to any nationa. At Kure there are also two. At Sasebo one large graving dock is just completed, and a larger is in progress. There are, besides, a special graving dock for small craft, an iron floating dock for torpedo boats, and a steel floating dock, under construction in Eng- land (at Messrs. Swan & Hunter's on the Tyne) for torpedo-boat destroy- ers. At Kure and Sasebo the docks at present working are just short of accommodating the largest Japanese warship. Among the ship yard machines, newly installed in each of the govern- ment dock yards, is a set of plate rolls some 24 ft. in length; modern plate- edge planers stand beside them, having a length to suit. In one case there is a modern keelplate bender, but for the cruisers in hand at Yokosuka and Kure the keelplates are being set by hand. Hydraulic plant is used, but rather as an offshoot from the boiler shop than as an integral part of ship yard equipment. The woodworking machines for sawmill and carpen- ters' work are well up to date, but for the joinery department very few are used, hand skill--the legacy of the past--being still predominant. Naturally, where changes from the past to the present have been rapid, Japan presents some curious contrasts in the employment, close alongside, of the antique andthe modern. At one place alog of hard wood is being ripped into planks by a somewhat diminutive (top) sawyer; at another the trench for the wall of a dry dock is kept clear of water by a series of ancient treadmills, each worked by one man, each receiving the water from its predecessor, and advancing it to a slightly higher level. At both Yokosuka and Kure there are Siemens furnaces capable of producing some 10 tons of steel in each case. This material is used exclusively for castings, and at present the sterns and stern:posts of the two third-class cruisers are being cast from it. In the engine shops, again, the machines are of a nature best adapted to a variety of repairs and replacements, and are not of the heaviest description. In the boiler shops, where replace cylindrical are seen side by side with water-tube boilers, vertical plate rolls, large and modern, are well in evidence, together with hydraulic and pneumatic plants. In none of these establishments is there any attempt at electric distribution of power; a light installation béing all that is done with this medium. f There is no doubt that the Japanese gentlemen holding the highest positions at these government dock yards would be only too glad to be allowed to extend the plant and to be intrusted with larger work. They have all-had European or American experience in the superintendence of Japanese warships built abroad, and are keen observers of advances made elsewhere. Under present conditions, however, it is to the private ship yards that one must look for the greatest advances in machines and methods, and the closest approach to modern practice. As with the gov- ernment yards, so too with the private, repair work has in the first in- stance engaged most attention, the building of new ships being an adjunct encouraged and fostered (in some cases called into being) by the subsidies obtainable. At present there are some five principal private ship yards, respectively situated at Nagasaki, at Kobe, at Osaka, and two at Uraga. At the first-named place the works belong to the Mitsu Bishi Co., reputed the wealthiest private company in Japan and having at its head Baron Hisaya Iwasaki, a man of great enterprise and resource. They are spread over three separate districts in and near Nagasaki, one having a fine large graving dock and ship yard, the second a smaller graving dock and engine works, the third a repairing slip. The area of ground occupied in the first district is by far the largest, and amounts to fully eighty acres. On this ground the arrangement of building slips allows for four ships under con- struction at one time. On one side it is bounded by a steep hill, which, to some extent, hampers the best disposition of these slips. Among the modern machines with which this ship yard is supplied are the following: -- A set of 26-ft. rolls, several large plate-edge planers, a keelplate bender a joggling machine, a large hydraulic punch, with columns widely spaced for flanging purposes. Hydraulic riveting is used for frames. A pneu- matic installation is in hand for trial purposes, at least in the matter of riveting, caulking, cutting, etc., and some steps have been taken towards power distribution by electricity. For sawmill and carpenters' work the machines also are of the most modern description; but, as in the govern- ment yards, there are very few machines exclusively for joinery purposes the work in this department being done now, as it has been in 'the past, wholly by hand. At' the engine works are sheer legs to lift.100 tons. hydraulic riveters with some 8 ft. gap, and vertical rolls some 12 ft. in height. The largest steamer--the Iyo Maru--ever built at. Nagasaki has just been launched. She has a length of 445 ft. between'the perpendiculars and a gross tofinage of 6,300. Her owners are the Nippon Viken Kaisha, for'which'company also a still larger steamer is in preparation at the Same works, the gross tonnage of this larger boat being some "16,000 tons: at - At the Kobe works, the principal proptietor of whichis Mr Kawa- saki, the ship yard and engine works are situated in close juxtaposition, There is a graving dock in course of construction, Unfortunately, the Dy! i [January 23 site lies in loose sand, and a good deal of trouble has been encountered in dealing with this mobile material. The difficulties have now been over- come. and the dock is in a fair way towards early completion. The mod- . ern tools at these works are of much the same class as those at Nagasaki, but in some instances they are not yet installed, though lying ready for the purpose; rearrangement of plant and building of new shops and sheds marking the 'present order of things. Last year their output was 6,616 tons, but this year it' will run to a smaller total. Pye si ~At Osaka 'the principal ship yard is connected with the so-called Osaka Iron Works. Until last year theif Operations were largely re- stricted to repairs. These were carried on in a confined space at some little distance up the reach of the river separating the town from. the sea. Osaka, however, has a grand harbor scheme in hand, to cost fully £2,000,- 000, part of the money being supplied by government. When this scheme is carried out, breakwaters erected, and bars removed, the draught of water for steamers, instead of being limited, as now, to some 14 ft. at high tide, will be practically unlimited, and the harbor will be available for war and merchant ships of any size. At a convenient spot, in the neighborhood of the new harbor works, the Osaka Iron Works has started its ship yard. The site is well chosen, and there is plenty of room for future growth. The machines at present installed on this site are neither so large nor so varied as those comprising the plant at Nagasaki and at Kobe. There is, however, a small hydraulic in- stallation, including a powerful pump used for flanging purposes. In course of preparation, also, is a modern pneumatic plant. The work both in hand and in prospect, also, is of a smaller description than that at the ship building centers previously mentioned. The most noticeable features of the yard is the situation--admirably chosen and at an opportune time-- and the energy with which such work as at present suits the district has been carried out. The engine and boiler shops are still situated at the locality which, until last year, was the principal working center of the company. im Uraga, near the entrance to the Bay of Tokio, are situated the other two principal ship yards. The one belongs to the Ishikawajima Co., the headquarters ot which are at Tokio, and the other at the Uraga Dock Co. Each of these ship yards is at present furnished with one fine graving dock of:large size, and the latter company has a second and larger dock in contemplation. For repair work they compete keenly one against the other, and against the Yokohama Dock Co. 'he latter company has its docks at Yokohama, the only port of the district for ocean-going steamers. Ships docked at Uraga have usually to be shifted from Yoko- hama for the purpose. Attempts have been made to bring about a com- bination of the two Uraga companies, but so far the attempts have not been successful. In both the yards new plant of most modern description has been installed and is in process of installation, the Uraga Dock Co. having in hand a complete reconstruction of shops and sheds. The area to be covered by the completed works, including the ship yard, the two docks, engine shop, and boiler shed, is fully seventeen acres. At the Ishikawajima yard pneumatic power is actually now employed in the ship yard for the purpose of rimering and caulking. It has been tried also for riveting, but this is stopped until the men shall have had more experience of the simpler operations. This yard rightly claims to be ahead of all others in Japan in application of pneumatic power to ship work. The engine and boiler shops of the company are at a distance trom the ship yard, being situated at the headquarters at Tokio, - _ As compared with ship yards at home, the small number of building slips compared with the size of the establishments is very noticeable, At Nagasaki, with an area in the ship yard alone of eighty acres, the building slips number not more than four. At Uraga, with an area for ship yard, two docks, engine and boiler shops of seventeen acres, two building slips only are contemplated. The explanation of this is not quite easily sup- plied. It seems to leave something for the economical developments of the future. Wages are low compared with other countries, a sum equal ls. 8d. per day being a good day's wage for a skilled mechanic. Low though the wages appear, they are said to be nearly double what they: were before the late war. Piecework is not common. The average time worked is sixty hours a week. Sunday is usually a holiday. When work is urgent the Sunday holiday is forgone, and wages paid the same as for other days. In some districts Sunday work appears to be the general rule, but in them two days a month, determined by their local importance, are observed as holidays. At Nagasaki, Baron Iwasaki has devised' and adopted a method of supplying his works with suitable apprentices, which seems both far- sighted and public-spirited. At an initial cost of some £5,000, an annual expenditure of £500 or more, he has established a school for the education of boys, principally the sons of his workmen, between the ages of twelve years and seventeen. The intention 1s to enter some fifty a year, and give them a five years' course of instruction, a good general education being combined with such specialization as shall lead on ultimately to a suc- cessful apprenticeship. Boys at this school are educated gratuitously, and at the end of their schooling are under no bond to enter the works. The school has existed for only three years, so that the practical advantage of it has yet to be tested. At present one must be content to admire the con- Cepron matting nas yet ee its test as a means to a very desirable end. iplahgrac iM me port Ly e remark that an industry, somewhat newly Hie ings oa . ne a ae chance of success, if the chief men engaged a mae a a a y, to an immediate return for their money, but ent Gene ae a ae derived from a systematic improve- : Faget aber 3p intelligence of their workers. This would be ry started in any country of the world, and is not the less so with one initiated under the iar ci ini , 2 peculiar circumstances pertainin to commercial enterprise of the far east. Ree 2 A oye Dik iR -------- ; Negotiations are under way for the formation of another ination of pneumatic tool concerns, with 'the Standard hee Ten eee Chicago' as a nucleus. The proposed name is the Standard Pneumatic Tool Co. and the capital talked of is $2,500,000. The companies for whose plants and business negotiations have been taken up are the following: The Standard Pneumatic Tool Co, of Chicago, with works at Aurora, IIL: International Pneumatic Tool Co. of London, with plants at Chippenham and ee an Philadelphia Pneumatic Tool Co, 8 'andard Railwa Baio Coif 'St: Louis, and the' Cleveland hae Tool Co. Iti stated that Charles R. Flint of New York is a prime mover in the d