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436 during. the last few months through the unusually large number of wrecks in 'this section and in the north. That the wrecks have not 'been attended with a horrible loss of life which has marked several of the past years is due largely to luck and not to gen- eral conditions. The recent mishap to the Watson, on Waddah island, points to the need of a competent fog signal at that point. Capt. J. Griffith, of the Watson, said, 'There should be at least a fog signal and, if possible, a vertical ray or other light to warn navigators of the isl- and's position.' "Comparing the situation on this coast with that on the Atlantic, the pitiful supply of aids for the much THE MarRINeE REVIEW rockier shore line here is most not- iceable. On the great lakes, even, the shipping men fare far better than those of this coast, for on Lake Superior alone are 33 lighthouses and seven life-saving stations, and on Lake Michigan 50 lighthouses and 20 life- saving stations. Either one of these lakes has more protection than the entire coast of Alaska, over 3,000 miles in length." With the recent establishment of the new Alaska lighthouse district, the sixteenth, under the control of Com. E. H. Tillman, radical changes should be instituted and an attempt made to provide the protection necessary for the Pacific coast waters from Puget sound to southeastern Alaska. The German Ship Yards OR some weeks the men in the German ship yards have been out of work, either because they have been on strike, or for the reason that they have been locked out. At this present date there is no telling which way the cat will jump--or 'whether it will jump at all within the next few days. It goes without saying that this condition of affairs is attend- ed with great loss to the ship yard proprietors. Foreign yards are reap- ing in part the benefit of the status, as every day one reads that such and such an order for building and repair- ing--especially the latter--has_ been placed in foreign hands. In view of the seriousness of matters in this connection it is interesting to con- sider the magnitude of the interests involved. The Dresdener Anzeiger has made a tabulation of statistics concerning the principal German yards, in which it is seen that these are 31 in number, covering a_ total of 12,139,740 square meters or about 3,000 acres. Of these 7,850,000 square meters or 1,940 acres are taken up by the Imperial ship works. The great- est of the private works, those of Schichau in Elbing, Danzig and Pillau, covet in all 212.5 acres. Next in order of area are those of the Vulkan Works in Stettin and Hamburg, with 126 acres, and Blohm & Voss in Ham- Pate with 116.6 acres. The next. in importance are those of the Aktienge- sellschaft Weser in Bremen with 99 acres, then the Bremer Vulkan Works in Vegesack, 74.1 acres; the Germania Werft of the Krupp concern in Gaar- Gen near Kiel, 58 acres; Johann C. Tecklenborg in Geestemuende and the Nordseewerft in Emden, 49.4 acres; the Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft in Flensburg, 45 acres; the Howaldt .15 over that length. Werke in Kiel, 32.9 acres; the Stet- tiner Oderwerke with 4.4 acres, and the Neptunwerke in Dostock with 26.1 acres. The other yards in Hamburg have a combined area of only 24.7 acres. Of these may be mentioned the Reiherstieg Schiffswerfe & Ma- chipenfabrik with 12. acres; Hy ©. Stuelken Soehne with 4.4 acres; J. N. N. Wichhorse with 3.95. acres; H. Brandenburg, 3.4 acres, and Janssen & Schmielinsky, 0:22. acre. Of ways there are in German ship yards 105 of 328 ft. long, 38 of lengths up to 492 f., 19 wp. to 656 ft, and Adding the five ways of the Imperial yards, there is 4 total of 182 berths for ships... Of 25, 21 are private and four govern- mental. The various yards have 73 docks, of which 16 dry docks are pri- vate. Five of these are less than 328 it. long, the rest over that length: There are 34 private floating docks, of which 31 are less than 328 ft. long, 8 up to 492 ft. and 5 over this latter length. The greatest number of docks is owned by the firm of Blohm & Voss. As regards workmen, the Imperial yards employ 23,000, the Vulkan yards 6000, EF. Schichau 7,100 Blohm & Voss 5,100, the Aktiengsellschaft We- ser 4,230, the Germaniawerft in Kiel- Gaarden 3,500, Techlenborg in Geeste- muende 2,620, the Howaldt Works 2,350, the Flensburger Schiffbaugesell- schaft 1,500, the Reiher-Stieg-Schiffs- werfite 1,410, the Bremer Vulkan 1,270, the Neptunwerft 1,290, and Seeback in Geestemuende (not mentioned in the previous part of the tabulation) 1,100. Of the Hamburg establishments just mentioned, H. Stuelcken & Soehne employ 450 men, H. Brandenburg 480, Wichhorst 280 and Janssen & Schmie- Woventber, 1006 liieskey 210: Ih all, there -are . 63;430 persons employed in the German ship yards above enumerated. : Development of the Gas Engine In the report for the year on the operations' of Lloyds register of Brit- ish and foreign shipping, just issued, an important statement appears un- der "Rules for Internal Combustion Engines.' The use for internal com- bustion engines for marine purposes has hitherto been confined to small vessels and yachts, but now, says Lloyds, the possibility of the use of this description of engine as the mo- tive power of large vessels is becom- ing a question of immediate and practical importance. The internal combustion engines in most general use on land and also those fitted in small vessels are worked on the four- stroke cycle principle, and are single- acting, so that with each cylinder there is only one impulse for two revolutions of the shaft. With this type of engine, there is considerable difficulty in effecting the reversal of ihe direction of rotation of the. en- gine, and when these engines are used for marine purposes, the astern motion of the screw has usually been obtained by the use of toothed wheel gearing. 'Comparatively recently there has been a development in the Diesel oil .engine for marine work. A two-stroke cycle has been success- fully adopted, and the reversal is ef- fected in the engine itself, the crank shaft being directly coupled to the screw shaft. The Diesel oil engine is now being fitted to three fairly large vessels being built on the continent under the supervision of the survey- ors to Lloyds register. In a set of internal combustion engines which is being constructed under the society's Sitvey im @ritain for a vessel of about 260 tons, there are several nov- el features. ed to work The engines are intend- with gas produced on board from anthracite coal. The cyl- inders are of comparatively small size, and the engines are intended to run at a high rate of revolution, and will not be reversible. The connec- tion with the shaft will be made by means of a hydro-dynamic transformer in which a turbine pump driven by the engines delivers water to another turbine coupled to the screw shaft. The arrange- ment is such that the screw shaft will rotate at a much less rate of speed than the engines, and provision is also made for reversing its direction of rotation. screw directly