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14 there is between 700 and 800 tons in the approach and 6,900 tons in the dock proper. During the process of con- struction 240,000 field rivets were driven in the steel. Over 2,000,000 ft. of lumber, mostly Washington fir, was used, of which there is 1,500,000 ft. in the pocket linings and deck, 200,000 ft. of maple in the pock- et bottoms and 200,000 ft. in the ap- proach. a The pockets are 12 ft. wide from center to center of partitions, or 11 ft, inside. They are 30 ft. in depth at the outside and 3 ft. in the inside, averag- ine about 15° ft. The dock proper is 888 ft. long, with 50 ft. additional in the end bent. The steel approach is 329 ft. long and the timber approach 400 ft. To the base of the rails the dock is 73 ft. above water level, being 6 ft. higher than dock No. 5. The spouts are heavier than those on the other docks. The work was started a year ago last August and the time and money spent in its construction indicate the mammoth proportions of the structure. The partitions in the last 10 pockets at the outer end are constructed of concrete, in order to give the material a trial where there is heavy wear. Should it withstand the action of the falling ore, it is the general opinion of the men who have been engaged in di- recting its construction that the next great ore dock will be entirely of rein- forced concrete. The Barnet & Record Co. had the contract for the timber, con- crete and crib work, and this has been under the direction of William Bryden, superintendent. The engineer in charge from the outset was W. B. May, and the inspector for the railroad company was J. M. Elliott. Secretary of the Navy Metcalf has expressed indignation at the report of the exclusion of a United States marine from a synagogue in Boston because Me wote a uniform of the United States service. In speaking of the in- cident Secretary Metcalf said: "In this especial case the navy department, un- fortunately, is powerless. I do not believe, however, that the American peo- ple will tolerate these conditions much longer. We have numerous _ cases brought to our attention in which sailors in uniform have been refused admit- tance to places of amusement. I never expected, though, to see the uniform thrust from a place of worship." The steamer: Sacramento, which was with the recently, sunk in collision Mataafa at Duluth docked at Superior. steamer will be 7° THE MaRINE REVIEW THE RISE OF THE GAS EN- GINE. BY LEWIS NIXON, IN American Industr- 1es. The American public is so used to startling developments, that when one presents itself which involves a proc- ess of evolution even though sweep- ing in its effect, the people must be educated up to a realization of what is doing before giving it any general recognition. The latent energy of fuel has been used in so wasteful a way as to alarm scientists. No greater change making for the conservation of such energy has engaged the attention of the engi- neering world than the gas engine. Every school boy learns of the losses in the steam engine and the small proportion of the heat value of the coal that is converted into useful work. Besides this, we have questions as to the proper water to use in the boiler and the quality of coal used in the furnace. The gas engine combination that is coming so rapidly into use is a fur- nace looking much like a vertical tubu- lar boiler in which coal is converted into a combustible gas. This gas is then drawn into the engine by a suc- tion stroke and burned within the cylinder and converted into useful work. The action of the ordinary gas engine is easily explained in non-tech- nical terms by an example. Let us set a spiral spring om a ta- ble. Now if we press down this spring and release it, it will, disregard- ing friction and heat losses, push up as much weight as was required to push it down. Suppose now that when compressed we could suddenly stiffen the spring. It would then lift more in opening out than was re- quired to compress it and the differ- ence will 'be a gain in useful work. We draw in a piston full of air with some gas. The piston com- presses this mixture just as we com- press the spring, when compressed by means of an electric spring we burn the gas and heat the whole com- pressed "mixture. 'This gives it a greater pressure, Or stiffens the spring, and drives the piston back with great- er force than was required to com- press the cooler mixture. So we gain a far larger part of the heat value of our fuel by burning it right in the cylinder, where it is con- verted into useful work than by burn- ing under a boiler where there are losses in ash, in. smoke, in radiation and in leakage as the steam passes to the engine. Then coal and other fuels that are inefficient in a 'boiler's fur- mace can produce a good gas so' that coals and lignites now considered of doubtful value can be used'in connec- tion with the gas engine. The following from 'the report of the United States Geological Survey is most enlightening on this point: "It will be necessary to test a larg- er number and_ greater variety of coals and lignites, and to repeat with greater care some of the tests al- ready made, before a full discussion of the results of these investigations can be properly entered upon or their value fully appreciated. But the re- sults already obtained from the pre- liminary investigations made during the last six months are sufficient to indicate their far-reaching importance in the solution of the fuel and power problems upon which the varied in- dustries of the country depend. "Most of the American bituminous coals and lignites can be used as a source of power in a_gas-producer plant. "As indicated by comparative tests of 14 bituminous coals from mine states, the power efficiency of these coals when used in the gas-producer plant is 21%4 'times greater than their efficiency when used in the steam boiler plant; or, in other words, one ton of these coals used in the gas- producer plant has developed, on a commercial scale, as much power as 21%4 tons of the same coal when used in the ordinary steam boiler plant. "The value of the results of these investigations is, of course, not limited to the coal-producing sections of the country, but extends through every state and territory where coal or other mineral fuel is used as a source of power. Thus, in the New England states no coal is mined; but in the year 1900 the steam power produced through the consumption of coal and used for purposes in these states cost approximately $50,- 000,000. The development of this power through the more. efficient methods suggested by these investiga- tions would mean: a saving to 'the manufacturers in these states of 15 to 20 million dollars per annum, "As another illustration of the way these investigations may influence the affairs of the nation as a. whole, it may be stated that there were used in the naval vessels of the United States in 1903 approximately 500,000 tons of coal, costing $2,500,000. If the future gas producer and gas engine can be substituted in our battleships and cruisers for the existing steam boilers manufacturing