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continued to show even better work as compared with sister ships than disclosed on trial. This merely shows that as already indicated in the references to other ships, there is nothing in the idea of greater dependability as regards the ordinary type of engine and gear. It is a mental condition purely and simply. All the development and en- gineering work has been done and paid for and the information and re- sults are available to all. Economies in Land Practice Those systems “have withstood the tests of service in the largest sizes and under the most severe conditions in shore work to this day. There is no service afloat that calls for greater endurance and dependability than rolling mill work or mine hoist- ing, both involving reversibility under load conditions not existent or ob- tainable afloat. Their use permits economies not possible with the or- dinary positive gear with piston and slide valves with their enormous clear- ances and heavy friction losses, leak- ages, and lack of proper separate con- trol of port openings. The quadruple engine was taken up for cargo ship work in 1896. The writer built the first quadruple for a Great Lakes freighter in that year, much against his will and convictions, and it was even less of a _ success than he anticipated, but the princi- pal cause of failure was unlooked for and not attributable to the de- sign. The same phenomenon has re- appeared at intervals with both triples and quadruples and is with us today. In fact it undoubtedly supplies at least a partial reason for material differences between identical ships. The best engineering talent in the country was invoked in the effort to locate the trouble and while cylinder condensation was, of course, assumed to exist yet the extent to which it was finally found to be existent was unheard of so far as could be learned. This was doubtless due in part to the fact that while the engines had been designed for a normal duty of about 2000 indicated horsepower they were seldom worked above about 1400, but it was also found to be due in part to the very soft and open iron in the cylinder castings. Subsequently the cylinders were replaced by others of very hard close iron and the con- densation apparently reduced to nor- mal. The opposition to the quadruple was, however, based on other grounds. For equal powers the quadruple en- gine weighs and costs about 20 per cent more than the triple. For the modern ship this difference represents 90 about 25 tons in engine room weights alone. The use of the quadruple pre- supposes the use of higher steam pressures and increase of _ boiler weights also as well as of piping, valves, fittings, etc. The difference in these weights is not easily de- termined but estimates by shipbuild- ers place it as between 8 and 20 tons, depending upon the pressure em- ployed and type of boiler selected. It must be obvious that the quad- ruple must effect such savings as will at least offset the deadweight losses and investment cost and in addition earn a return on the invest- ment. The deadweight loss is cumu- lative and recurs with every cargo loaded. The added investment amounts to about $20,000. To meet the sum of these charges and losses, assum- ing two-way loading and 22 round trips per year, the fuel saving -would require to be of the order of 35 tons per trip at 1926 fuel costs. While the quadruple engine has a small theo- retical advantage over the triple, it is not equal to any such showing as this, and as a matter of fact no ac- cessible reports of trials show that the quadruple even equals the well- proven performance of the triple. No data are available showing that the mechanical efficiency of the quadruple is any higher than the triple, and if this is true, then for equal powers the friction losses in the quadruple must be the greater. It can hardly be denied that maintenance and lubri- cation are also higher. If any sup- port were needed for the foregoing contention as to relative economy Table II and Fig. 1 accompanying the first part of this article supply it. Agrees With Dr. Sadler To sum up then, Dr. Sadler, inso- far as the engineering features of operation are concerned, was on safe ground. So far are we indeed from having reached even high ground in our engineering, to say nothing of the limit, or requiring the adoption of new devices and additions of posi- tive added cost and, to say the least, debatable value, we have not even approached the possibilities of familiar apparatus. Here is no suggestion of pioneering or experiment, but a defi- nite back-tracking out of a wilder- ness of experiment and a half light of accurate knowledge into a clear field, well lighted and over roads on which there is no toll to pay. On the contrary there are clear and defi- nite savings without involving new construction or designs. As to the latter it is not to be construed as inferring departures except as to uti- lizing for marine work of today those ‘things which we proved to be good MARINE REVIEW—April, 1927 two generations ago and which others took up and have used with profit in other fields ever since. Refusal to recognize these facts does not in- dicate clear intelligent thinking. Steam duties of 15 pounds per in- dicated horsepower can be reduced to 11 or thereabouts without hazarding any experiments. There are able en- gineers both in this country and abroad who maintain that such econo- mies are possible without going to extreme pressures or multiplication of cylinders and parts. Out of a large collection of such matter, - the writer has before him as this is written a report of a contract trial conducted by the purchaser (United States navy) of an engine working under substantially similar conditions as to steam pressures, low super- heat, revolutions, piston speeds, vac- uum, etc., to those commonly found in the trade under’ consideration. Moreover the engine is not even a triple, but a two-crank compound working at constant load just as the marine engine does, and yet the steam rate is even lower than the figure indicated above. For a con- templated construction program which has been in hand the same ‘builder has offered a guaranteed duty for marine service of about the same figure. The design contemplates com- pound cylinders and nothing whatever that has not been used before in marine work. In fact the plan bears out in every detail the contentions made herein. All auxiliaries which can be so operated will be worked off the main -engine. Superheat en- ters but is not stressed; it exerts an influence on the steam duty but determination of this point will rest with the apparent influence on boiler performance. (To Be Continued) Fuel Prices Reduced Prices for fuel oil of high grade delivered at ports of the Great Lakes were reduced early in March. The fuel oil price reductions ap- ply to the 24-26, and 30-32 degrees Baume _— grades. The still higher grade 32-36 is not affected. The new prices at points on the Great Lakes f.o.b. per gallon are as follows: for 24-26 oil, at Cleveland 6.5 cents, De- trit, 6.5 cents, Buffalo, 6.84 cents, Chicago, 5.388 cents, and at Pitts- burgh, 6.60 cents. The prices for 30-32 grade oil at the same _ places are respectively 7.3 cents, 7.4 cents, 6.1 cents and 7.4 cents. The prices per gallon on the 32-36 grade oil f.o.b. at the same points are respectively, 7.8 cents, 7.7 cents, 7.9 cents, 6.6 cents and 7.9 cents. : .