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1902.} MARINE REVIEW. : | e 17 A RECORD REPAIR JOB. Probably the quickest repair job of its kind ever made in this country was recently completed by the Fore River Ship & Engine Co. of Quincy, Mass. The British steamship Isle of Kent of 3,038 gross tons was in collision with the Spanish steamship Amesti, on Dec. 14, about 350 miles east of Boston light. The Amesti was struck amidships on the starboard side, the Isle of Kent hitting her bow on, and so great was the force of the blow that she was practically cut in half and sank in about fifteen minutes, the crew, however, being saved. The Isle of Kent carried a cargo of cotton for a European port and the fact that her fore peak, for- ward of the collision bulkhead, was full of cotton probably saved the vessel, for the cotton, acting as a cushion, prevented the damage from extending back of the bulkhead and she was able to reach the port of Boston. After discharging 800 bales of cotton from number one hold, the vessel was placed in dry dock for survey, and the accompanying photo- graphs show the condition of the stem and adjoining plating, two plates having been taken off to enable the removal of cot- ST TT. the crosshead of the main engine. This arrangement of the valve motion allows the valves of the engine to be placed at the back, thus bringing the centers of the cylinders much closer together, and in addition to economizing space in the engine department adding to the cargo capacity of the ship. The total length of the engines is about 29 ft., which is much less than could be obtained if the ordinary link gear had been used. The reversing gear is controlled by a steam direct-acting engine. _ The shafting is of Siemens-Martin steel. The four cranks are each built up separately and are interchangeable. The crank shaft is 17% in in diameter, the thrust shaft 1714 in. and the tunnel shaft 16% in. The thrust blocks are of the ordinary horseshoe type, of white metal, and there are eight rings. The blades of the propeller are of manganese bronze while the boss is of cast steel. The condensers are oblong and support the backs of the cylinders. They are of cast iron and are fitted with brass tubes, the cooling surface being about 7,000 sq. ft. for each condenser. The condensing water to each condenser is circulated by a large centrifu- gal pump, driven by an independent engine, the connections being made between the two condensers, The air pumps are driven ton in the fore peak. The injuries were found to in- volve about thirty plates and five pairs of frames, and bids for permanent re- pairs were opened Dec. 30, the bids being as follows: Bertelsen & Peterson, $18- 950, time fifty-five days; Lockwood: Mfg. Co., $24,- 985, time forty days; Atlan- tic Works, $22,450, time forty. days; Fore River Ship & Engine Co., $23,250, time twenty-five days; Fore River Ship & Engine Co., $25,500, time twenty days. The twenty-five day prop- osition of the Fore River Ship & Engine Co. was ac- cepted, the contract exact- ing a demurrage of $250 per day for failure to complete within the time specified. Within three days after signing the contract .the steel forging for the stem was completed, it being in one piece 62 ft. long and 10 x 234 in. section. Had it not been for the company's forge equipment, the ob- taining of such a forging would have been attended with serious delays. Al- though the work was car- ried on at East Boston, some ten miles from the Fore River Plant, this dis- advantage did not prevent the completion of the con- tract well within the time agreed upon. The floating machine shop was towed from Quincy to the .dry dock, thus greatly facilitat- ing much of the work, and the company's steam lighter was in service between the works and the ship. Those familiar with such repair jobs in this and other countries expressed surprise at the despatch with which the work was carried on and also their belief that it was a record job, the ship hav- ing been floated out of dock in nineteen and a half work- ing days, the job fully com- pleted in twenty-four days and the cargo re-stowed and the vessel ready to leave port on the even- ing of the twenty-fifth day. ENGINES FOR THE KROONLAND AND FINLAND. Philadelphia, Jan 29.--The William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co. has about completed the main propelling engines to be in- stalled in the new steamships Kroonland and Finland, building for the International Navigation Co. These vessels are 580 ft. between perpen- diculars, 70 ft. beam and the loaded draught will be 30 ft. Their registered tonnage will be 12,000. Although not designed especiallv for speed, it is safe to say that greater care has been exercised in fitting up their ma- chinery than in the instance of any vessel ever built in a Delaware river ship yard. The engines are of quadruple-expansion type, direct-acting and surface-condensing. Diameters of the cylinders are as follows: High- pressure, 31 in.; first-intermediate, 44 in.; second-intermediate, 62 in., and low-pressure, 88 in., with a stroke of 54 in. The high-pressure and the two intermediate cylinders are fitted with piston valves, and the low-pres- sure has two treble-ported flat valves. All the valves are worked by a radial valve gear operated by a single eccentric through a quadrant rocking on trunnions. The reversing is obtained by moving the sliding block attached to the valve spindle from one end of this quadrant to the other. The lap and lead are obtained by a separate lever worked from PROGRESS OF WORK ON THE ISLE OF KENT. by a lever working from the crosshead of the second in- termediate engine in the usual way. There are also fitted two large evaporators to produce the necessary fresh water from the gea to make up the feed, and to avoid the use of salt water in the boilers. Two large feed heaters and filtering arrangements are provided. An auxiliary condenser has also. been fitted. up and when placed on board will have a separate circulating pump. so that all the auxil- lary machinery in the ship can be worked separately from the propelling engines. There will be an installation of Worthington pumps. Work on the boilers, which is also speeding, is of interest. The boilefs are single-ended, eight in num- ber, constructed of steel and adapted for a working pres- sure of 200 lbs. per square inch. There are four fur- naces to. each boiler or thirty-two in all, these be- ing Brown's -- suspension type. The boilers are fitted with Serve tubes, 3% in. external diameter. The EI- lis & Eaves system of in- duced draft is fitted to the boilers. The boilers are in two compartments, leading into two funnels, which, are 98 ft. high from the grate level and elliptical in plan, 13 ft..6 in. bye8 ft, 6 in. The fans are eight in num- ber and 7 ft. 6:in. in.diam- eter and are driven direct by Sturtevant engines. These fans, situated direct- ly under the funnels, induce a draft through the furnaces, the air having. previously been heated by passing through tubes placed in the way of the waste gases from the furnaces. The inlet of air to the furnaces «4s through tubes placed in a casing over the boiler, thence down a passage in front of the smoke box at the end of the boilers and into the furnaces. The gases from the furnaces, after passing through the boiler, play around the tubes forming the air inlet and subsequently pass through the fans into the funnels. Mr. Thomas E. Heenan, consul, writing to the state department from Odessa, says: "The Deutsche Levante Linie, in conjunction with the Hamburg- American line, will, in January, 1902, start a direct line of steamers between New York and Odessa. The combination of these two lines insures the success of this enterprise, as both have a thorough knowledge of the trade relations between the Levant and the United States. The Deutsche Levante Linie sends five steamers each month to Odessa from Hamburg, two of which are classed as express. It is evidently the purpose of the combination to capture the trade of the discontinued Barber line, which ran until recently between Constantinople and New York. The new line will run from New York to Malta, Alexandria, Constantinople, Novor- ossisk, Batum and Odessa. I am much pleased with the estab- lishment of a direct line between Black Sea ports and New York, but I confess to disappointment that the line is under the German flag instead of our own. I am now in my seventeenth year as consul at Odessa, and during that time have never seen the United States flag at the masthead of a traffic steamer."