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May, 1909 member of this society, he having for many years made a specialty of Sound steamers, and it is doubtful if any corporation has ever had a pleasanter experience than one I have the honor to represent, during all the time which was consumed in the building of the Commonwealth, the contractors, sub- contractors, and the Company working in harmony to bring about 'the latest and best type of vessel suited to the route and circumstances. J] mention these points, for while certain minor changes were made during the time of construction, all the essentials and most of the details of the steamer were put on jpaper and determined be- fore actual work was begun. "In these days when arguments are frequently advanced for the use of the turbine for all sorts of vessels and all conditions of trade, it may be well to give the reasons why the side wheel type of construction was adopted for the Commonwealth. As a commercial proposition it is exceedingly doubtful whether or not the turbine is econom- ical on short daily routes on which quite a number of miles have to be made under slow speed. Our experi- ence thus far with the Massachusetts and Old Colony, sister ships, the latter being a turbine, has not shown that the Old Colony's engines are in any way superior economically to those of the Massachusetts. Of course, the prob- lem of repairs and maintenance has not been considered, nor can it be for several years to come." Mr. Stevenson Taylor. Mr. Stevenson Taylor: Referring to the remarks made about me person- ally by Captain: Miller and Mr. Du Bosque, I must say that I think they have both 'been overkind. It has merely so happened that for the past 28 years I have been more or less intimately connected with the develop- ment of the Sound style of steamers. The Commonwealth, like other steam- 'ers, is the development of years of experience and of many, many minds. In regard to the stopping and backing I think note should be made that that is a very important feature of a steamer like the Commonwealth, and on the trial trip of the Commonwealth, while at sea, running a little over 19 miles per hour, the bells came to the engine room, and progress was absolute- ly stopped in one minute and ten sec- onds. I know of no other kind of ves- sel with which that could be done. Mr. Gardner in his figures of the results of the trial trip made last Sat- urday, has given you the apparent slip of the wheels. I wish to call your attention to the fact that that slip is TAE Marine Review only apparent. comparison I extreme For the 'purpose of have always used the diameter of the wheel. For instance, in the case of the Common- wealth. we. «call... that .-waee . 3) ft. in diameter, because from the center of the. shaft to the extreme bottom of tthe paddle, when in the water, is 15% ft. but the actual path 75 traversed by the bucket is not a part of the 31-ft. circle, and therefore the slip given is only comparative, and the actual slip can only be had by taking a drawing of the wheels and figuring it out roughly. I used the experimental diameter of the wheel therefore, only for comparison, that is why it is called the apparent slip. Electrical Installations on Steamships.' EFERRING to the system of Wiring in grooved wood: cas- ing or moridings, this is fast dying out. In cabins and ac- commodation it 'has an _ unsightly appearance, the wires are all con- cealed, it entails considerable trouble and expense to examine or renew the wires; in machinery spaces it is liable to warp and crack and has a generally untidy and unfinished appearance. It is also liable to fire from short. cir- cuits. In the holds it is liable to be damaged by cargo, and if water lodges in any particular place, the casing is very likely to retain it. with detriment to the insulation; this might be over- come by using lead-covered cable which would again add to the expense. It does not lend itself to protection the fittings. -- If the system of steel tubing is tobe at all efficient the tubing must be screwed, inspection boxes fitted to all bends and every fitting should be watertight. This would not be neces- sary in the accommodation, but would certainly apply to all other positions. In the first place, such an installation would be very much more costly, and it is very doubtful if the result would be satisfactory. Machinery spaces have been so fitted and in a very few years the tubes were completely cor- roded through, with the result that both wiring and tubes required renew- ing. In cotton-carrying steamers and steamers with holds insulated for meat, the main-cables are sometimes carried through iron tubes on deck alongside winch pipes; in such cases the pipes should be of ample diameter and provision made for draining off any moisture. The British admiralty practice of 'wiring is excellent, but the cost would "1Abstract of a paper presented to the Liver- pool Engineering Society, March 31, 1909. By H. T. Boothroyd. not justify its adoption in the mer- chant service. System of Wiring. There is no doubt that whatever system is adopted, the cost of up- keep will depend in some degree upon the engineers in charge; many of the troubles which occur might well be overcome and repairs effected if 'the engineers had a knowledge of the causes and the proper method of? car- rying out such repairs. Engineers have been heard to say that they knew nothing about electricity and did not want to know. Such men are cer- tainly not the best to have charge of electric installations. On one steam- er carrying oil in bulk, the mains were led along the deck in iron pipes, a short circuit had developed in the pipe, and when the chief engineer thought it might be put right if he fitted the pipe with oil, which he did, needless to say the result was not : satisfactory. ("In "another -- ease where a feed wire to the stokehold was broken, the engineer made the joint by means of the armoring; the result was again unsuccessful. The method of double wiring with twin is sometimes used. The two wires are insulated from each other and laid up together; this system has nothing to recommend it except cheapness. The cables are more liable to be damaged and cannot be satis- factorily repaired, if a fault develops the wires require to be entirely re- newed, and the damaged places are often very bad to find, especially if one wire short circuits on to the other. This is a source of considerable expense if it occurs in the holds or bunkers, where they are most liable to damage. wires Electrical Power for Auxiliaries. The subject electric of applying power to auxiliaries is one which is