The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1902. ] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. 25 EXPERIMENTS WITH FIREPROOFED WOODS. Decidedly interesting and instructive experiments to deter- mine the incombustibility of so-called fireproofed woods were held recently in a laboratory of the Walker building of the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology. The experiments were made under the direction of the insurance engineering experiment sta- tion, of which Edward Atkinson is director, and were conducted by Prof. Charles L. Norton of the institute and several assistants. Besides the representatives of the wood fireproofing companies whose productions were the subject of the tests there were present representatives of the building departments of Boston and New York, the Boston fire department, the Underwriters' union and Columbia university, perhaps in all fifty men. That all were very greatly interested may be judged from the fact that for three hours they remained crowded around a table upon which were several hot fires in a stuffy a laboratory in the basement. Before the experiments commenced, Edward Atkinson announced that the Institute of Technologv did not stand responsible for any of the work done or the results reached. All was under the charge of the insurance engineering experiment station, an organization originated by the Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and sup- ported by it. The experiments have been brought about by the desire of different companies to know of just what value fire- proofed woods are. As yet no absolutely fireproof wood has been met with. It is expected in the future that the station will have land of its own and laboratories suited for all sorts of experi- ments. Prof. Norton then began the demonstration by comparing over a Bunsen burner, giving a heat of approximately 3.50c° Fahrenheit, samples of different woods treated to fireproofing processes and untreated. The first was a sample of oak. The -- untreated wood burned freely in the flame, and for some timc after being taken out of the flame. 'The treated oak burned with a slight flame over the burner, but the flame and the glow both disappeared quickly after the wood was removed from the flame of the burner. Both pieces, however, showed about equal con- sumption after being removed. Fireproofed and untreated pine showed the same general results, except that the treated sample showed abcut 15 per cent less consumption by the flame than the plain pine. The best of the samples of fireproofed wood lost all trace of flame in from one to ten seconds after being removed from the flame, while the untreated wood continued to blaze and afterward to glow for some minutes. The next set of experiments was to determine the compara- tive length of time required to burn in two, sticks of fireproofed and unfireproofed wood. In general the treated wood lasted about a minute longer than the untreated. When subjected to heat in a furnace the fireproofed wood was reduced after a time to charcoal. As these experiments were all made with small pieces of wood, Prof. Norton next showed the effect of fire on larger samples of fireproofed wood. Two square boxes without ends, one 28 in. in length and the other about 24 in., one of whitewood and one of pine, treated with different processes, were placed over fires and allowed to stand for five minutes. At the end of that time the fire underneath was removed. The box of pine was charred in the inside, but the fire went out soon after the source was removed. The box of whitewood continued to ezlow and in time the lower part was burned away and a hole was burned in the side. In an electric muffle, where heat of about 1,000° centrigrade, or 1,8co° Fahrenheit, was supplied on all sides, no sample of fireproofed wood resisted the flame. Some burned more quickly and with more flame than others, but all were reduced to char- coal. When dropped upon a red hot plate of iron, however, the fireproofed woods only charred at the point of contact, while the untreated woods blazed, thus showing the value of the fireproof- ing processes as a deterrent of flame. The final experiments consisted of erecting cob houses--one of fireproofed sticks and the other of untreated woods. In both all kinds of woods and all processes were mingled. Fire was applied to each for five minutes. At the end of that time only the first five of the eight tiers of the fireproofed -wood had been at- tacked by the flame, and these were not burning readily. The upper tiers were untouched. The house of untreated wood broke into flame quickly, and when the fire was removed from under- neath at the end of five minutes the whole pile was in a blaze. The pile of untreated, wood burned for a little less than five min- utes before it fell, while the pile of fireprcofed wood stood in place for ten minutes. After falling the untreated wood burned for considerably longer than the fireproofed. Samples of wood treated to a fireproof paint withstood the flame fully as well as the wcods treated to a fireproofing solution which soaked through the entire stick. Prof. Norton stated that from previous experi- ments he had determined that the fireproofed woods were much harder upon tools than plain woods, both because they are harder and because the chemicals that are used cause tools to rust very quickly. After the experiments an informal discussion of results took place at the Hotel Brunswick. Among those who witnessed the experiments were: Prof. Ira H. Woolson, of Columbia university; Perez M. Stewart, superintendent, Rudolph P Miller, chief engineer, and J. S. Jordan, assistant superin- tendent of the bureau of buildings of the city of New York; John S. Damrell, commissioner, and M. W. Fitzsimmons, John B Fitzpatrick, W. T. Hathaway, C. J. Regan, John Currie, A Rogers, George S. Follansbee of the buildings department of the city of Boston; Engineer Curtis of the Boston fire depart- ment, Henry V. Thayer of the Fire Underwriters' union, C. J. H. Woodbury of Boston, F. C. Schmitz of New York, Charles H. Parsons of New York, J. H. Cook of New York, George J. S. Collins of Boston, P. B. Elkins of Boston, and J. B. Peters of Astoria, N. Y. OIL FUEL ON WARSHIPS. Tests to determine the feasibility of using oil for engine fuel on warships, conducted under the direction of the navy depart- ment, are nearing completion and have to a certain extent been satisfactory, although the element of danger arising from the percolation throughout the ship of combustible oil gases has yet to be overcome. The importance of these tests lies in the fact that if it is shown that petroleum can be used with safety and that the objectionable feature of heat too intense for firemen to bear can be overcome the United States navy will Iead every other naval establishment in the world in its ability to provide cheaper, more powerful and more easily obtained means of firing the fur- naces of men-of-war. Next to the United States, Russia is better provided with means of securing oil fuel than any of the other great maritime powers, but to carry to sea by train or pipe line the output of the Russian petroleum fields would make oil fuel more expensive than coal. The discovery of the Texas oil fields has produced a new element in favor of the United States, as these fields are only about thirty miles from the gulf and the oil could be sent there by pipe lines at very little cost. 'The supe- riority of oil over coal for heating purposes makes the advantage to the United States doubly great. : Merchant steamers are using oil fuel with success. They have overcome the danger of explosion from oil gases by provid- ing big funnels from the engine rooms to the upper deck, through which the gases are carried into the open air. Owing to the several gundecks in warships and the utilization of every availa- ble bit of space for the armament, it has been found practically impossible to provide funnels such as are used on the merchant- men. Experiments are being made, however, to ascertain if the gases can be carried off through the smaller tubes. passing to different parts of the warship. No such tests from the standpoint of severity and the roughness have ever been made before. The knowledge that they are of this complete character and conduc- ted by officers of the navy who have nothing except the good of their service at heart, has served to attract the attention of all the big cil concerns, which are represented at the tests by experts who are keeping careful account of what is being done. The real test is yet to come. As every war vessel is built with the idea that its main purpose is to engage in a short experience of actual battle, the experi- ments now being conducted are designed principally to deter- mine whether oil can be used feasibly under forced fraught for a period of four hours. This will be a fearful test of the engine room working force, and of the engines and boilers. Crews from the torpedo boats Rogers and Gwin are doing the firing. They have shown such pluck, intelligence, endurance, and enthusiasm that some naval officers assert that no other country can produce such men for the purpose. 'The tests are being made in a local machine shop in Washington. In this a replica of the engines of the cruiser Denver has been set up, and the place has been rear- ranged as to simulate the engine rooms of that vessel. CANADA'S TRADE. A statement of Canada's trade by countries has been pre- pared by the customs department. 'There is noted an increase in the trade of the dominion with all the principal countries. A feature of the statement is the steady growth of trade with Britain. The total imports for consumption in the fiscal year up to June 30 amounted to $202,791,505, as against $181,237,988 in the cor- -- responding period of 1901. Following were some of the principal imports for consumption: 1902. IQOI. Tipe States 6 i i oo ee, $120,809,956 $110,485,008 BEAU Ns coi oe law wee ce cee 49,215,093 43,018,164 Went oo oe ee ee 6,670,778 5,398,021 Gerpany ees ee 10,814,029 7,021,405 Waly ied... lO ee eee Ps eee 724,082 327,361 Mein rei. i ee a 1,700,697 3,828,450 Wewtoundland <0... 532. 1,125,426 625,568 The exports of Canadian produce amounted to $196,019,763 in the last fiscal year, as against $177,443,439 in 1901. Some of the principal items in this total were as follows: 1902. 1QOI. Tre sates' a ee $ 71,196,505 $67,995,726 WMA ok eee ee ee 109,348,245 92,857,525 Pease eo oe ee 1,388,848 1,436,628 Ce. ee, 2,602,535 1,374,716 Beas oe oe 2,444,490 1,728,484 Newrntiowhd © i er ee 2,381,307 2,142,877 Potten e 2,574,759 2,297,521 Weer wane. i 1,967,039 1,898,262