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18 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. NEW TURBINE STEAMERS. Attention Directed to Large High-class Passenger Vessels of this Type Now Being Turned out on the Clyde--Loss of big French Ships-- Light Load Line Question. Glasgow, June 22.--The new turbine steamers, built suring the winter on the Clyde and now coming into evidence, are 0 special interest in ship building circles. The Queen, the turbine steamer which Messrs. William Denny & Bros. of Dumbarton built, and the Parsons Co. engined, for the Southeastern & Chat- ham Railway Co., ran her official trials on the Firth of Clyde a few days ago. 'This vessel marks an important development in cross- channel steamers, which have hitherto been of the paddle or ordi- nary twin-screw type, with reciprocating engines. The Queen 1s a turbine steamer and is built very much on the lines of the tur- bine boats which have already been so successful on the Clyde, though somewhat larger. She is 310 ft. in length, 4o ft. in molded breadth and 25 ft. in depth, with a complete awning deck. In large deck-houses on the awning deck a number of special cabins are provided for passengers. The smoking-room, framed in waxed oak and upholstered in leather, is amidships. There is a prome- nade deck extefiding out to the ship's sides, which shelters the awning deck. The ladies' accommodation is in a large apartment on the main deck, framed in oak and enameled pine. In the res- taurant tables are provided for fifty passengers. On the upper deck there are twelve staterooms and two special royal state- rooms. The ordinary staterooms are finished in white enamel with red figured cretonne. The royal staterooms are in white, richly ornamented. The second-class accommodation is aft, while the crew are berthed on the lower deck aft, and the officers and engineers on the main deck amidships. For convenience in cant- ing and backing in harbor the vessel is fitted with a large bow rudder, worked by steam steering gear. Special arrangements . have been made for getting the boats out and in quickly, the idea being to carry them outside at all times, except when coming alongside the berthing stage. The machinery of the Queen. consists of Parsons' turbines, three being fitted on three separate lines of shafting. In maneu- vering the center shaft runs free, the two side shafts then taking the place of ordinary twin-screws, and the maneuvering power is in every respect as good as in ordinary twin-screws, while in going astern there is none of the objectionable vibration which is to be felt with the most modern twin-screw balanced arrange- ment. The center turbine is high pressure and the two side tur- bines are low pressure. When going ahead in ordinary. work the steam is admitted to the high-pressure turbine, and after ex- pansion there passes to the low-pressure turbines and then to the condensers, the total ratio of expansion being about 125-fold, as compared with 8 to 16-fold in triple-expansion reciprocating .en- gines. At the ordinary steaming speed of the Queen the revolu- tions of the center shaft are about 700 and of the two side shafts 500 per minute. This velocity implies the adoption of propellers of small diameter, and the utmost care is necessary in balancing these, so as to obtain full advantage of the absence of vibration obtained by the adoption of turbines. When going full speed ahead all the lines of shafting are in action, but when coming alongside a quay, or maneuvering in or out of harbor, the outer shafts only are used, thus giving the vessel all the turning and maneuvering efficiency of a twin-screw steamer. Inside the ex- haust end of each low-pressure turbine cylinder is placed an astern turbine, controlled by slide valves operated by combined steam and hydraulic reversing engines. The valves admit steam directly into the low-pressure turbines, or into the reversing tur- bines. When the vessel is going astern the center turbine re- volves idly in a vacuum, its steam-admission valve being closed and its connection with the low-pressure turbines also closed by non-return valves. Steam is supplied by two double and two single-ended boilers, constructed by Denny & Co., the working pressure being 150 lbs. One feature on board the Queen is the absence of hot cinders and dust. The funnels of the latest Dover and Calais steamers are fitted with appliances by which the decks can be kept as clean as those of a yacht. On the measured mile the speed developed was 21.76 knots, and with this builders and owners expressed themselves highly satisfied. An interesting fea- ture of the trials consisted of driving the vessels ahead at 20 knots and then reversing the turbines to full speed astern. This showed that she could be stopped dead in 1 minute, 7 seconds, - in 129 fathoms, or exactly two and a half times her own length. The Queen has now been sent round to Dover. Another turbine steamer, Brighton, also built by Wm. Denny & Bros., has just been launched for the London, Brighton & South Coast, and the Western of France railway companies' New- haven and Dieppe service. She is very similar in general appear- ance to her predecessor, the Arundel, but she embodies a number of improvements on that vessel which have been rendered possible by the adoption of the turbine system of propulsion. The pro- pelling machinery consists of three sets of turbines, manufactured. by the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co., supplied with steam from boilers of the Scotch type constructed by Denny & Co. The arrangement of the turbines is similar to that fitted to the King Edward and Queen Alexandra, with so much success by the Par- sons Co.--three shafts with five propellers, the center shaft being fitted with one propeller and the two side shafts with two pro- pellers each. This vessel is the fourth built by Denny & Bros. tor the Newhaven and Dieppe service and the seventh for her owners. The Brighton is practically a repeat of the Arundel, the last steamer they built for this service, except that she is fitted with turbine machinery instead of ordinary engines. Last year [July 2, o railway companies ae so See = i ueen Alexandra that they recommended the Pt iaines The builders had every faith the re- ; its would be to their entire satisfaction. If there had been any Comte whatever on the subject it has been dispelled by the trials. of the Queen, which were concluded the previous day. LOSS OF FINE SAILING SHIPS. the officials of the tw ree French ship Duguay Trouin, which has met with Bae e Pures for 00 She was bound from the United Kingdom to the west coast of South America and back to Europe, and is supposed to have been damaged in the Ba Ree at Valparaiso, in which the Pacific liner Arequipa and the. ee ship Foyledale were totally lost. The Duguay Trouin is of 2,557 tons, is owned at Nantes, and was built last year at Bordeaux. Many fine sailing ships built in France during the last few years have met with disaster. The missing vessels Commandant Mar- chand and Du Couedic were both large new Nantes-built ships. The latter had a fresh insurance of £20,000 effected upon her cargo of grain from San Francisco to Sydney. About twelve months ago underwriters paid a total loss upon the large French ship Charlemagne, built at Nantes the previous year, which was posted as missing. She was bound from Noumea to Havre. The Oliver de Clisson last February stranded at Long Branch while on a voyage from Plymouth to New York. She was: also built at Nantes in 1901 and insured for £21,000, and although she was subsequently floated the bill for repairs and salvage expenses cost the underwriters £10,000. These disasters to French ships have fallen heavily upon London underwriters. LIGHT LOAD LINE QUESTION. Great interest is taken here in the report of the select com- mittee of the house of lords on the light load line. The report states that it cannot be said to be proved that vessels in large numbers are unseaworthy because wanting in ballast. While such vessels are undoubtedly difficult to manage in rough weather, the number of accidents seems to be smaller in proportion than to ships in cargo. The committee, in view of the evidence which they have received with regard to the danger caused by the shifting of under-deck ballast, recommend that regulations as to securing ballast should be drawn up and enforced by the board of trade. They also deprecate most strongly the practice of throwing over ballast before a vessel arrives at her destination, and advise the board of trade to issue a warning not only to ship masters, but also to ship owners who give orders to this effect. The committee are unable to recommend the adoption of a light load line, because in their opinion there has been no loss of life, such as was supposed to exist when the deep load line became law, sufficient to justify legislation of this restrictive character, which would of necessity press hardly upon ship owners. The committee consider that the board of trade has power, under the merchant shipping act, to detain any British or foreign vessel from sailing in an unsafe condition. The committee find that the board of trade, whilst strongly opposed to any fresh legislation at the present time--that the evil of under-ballasting is being done away with--yet consider that it is possible to make further im- provement in the ballasting of ships. The committee relies upon the board of trade to use the powers already conferred by parlia- ment to prevent the improper or insufficient ballasting of ships. It will be the duty of 'the board to apply at once to parliament if at any future date they consider any extension of their powers necessary in the public interest. The Dominion government has announced to the directors of the Dominion Iron & Steel Co. that there will not be any change or addition to the tariff during the present session. An extension of the bounties will be made in order that the manu- facturers may receive the same bounty on steel manufactured from Canadian ore as on that manufactured from foreign ore. The iron and steel manufacturers asked that the bounty on pig iron from other than native ore be increased from $1.90 to $2.70, and that the present bounties not be scaled down until 1907. The effect of the increase stated would be to place Newfoundiand iron, which is used by the Dominion Iron & Steel Co. on the same foot- ing as the native ore. The company in question had also been pressing for duties on steel rods and steel plates over 30 and up to 50 in., and skeln steel that enters into the manufacture of pipes. These classes of material are at present exempt from duty. ---- The new marine barracks at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, are to be lighted by electricity, generated by a motor-generator set consisting of a 100 H. P., D. C. motor mounted on the same bed plate with and direct-connected to a 60-kilowatt, two-phase alter- nator. The current will be generated at 1,100 volts and transmitted across the river and there transformed to 440 volts. These ma- chines have recently been ordered from the Westinghouse Elec- tric & Mfg. Co., together with the usual switchboard and auxil- lary apparatus. Bids were opened by the navy department a few days ago for the construction of the gunboat Paducah. Two bids were submitted--one from the Gas Engine & Power Co., Morris Heights, N.Y. for $355,000, and one from the Townsend & Downey Ship Building & Repair Co., Shooter's Island, N. Y., for $377,000. The board of construction and repair has recommended that the bid of the Gas Engine & Power Co. be accepted. This company lately obtained the contract for the Dubuque, sister to the Paducah.