SHIPS AND THE SEA.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 56, 3 September 1904, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA.

» Tho new White S<nr liner Baltic, the lnrgoj-t hhip afloat, averaged 16.1 knots on her maiden trip to New York. Owing to her immon.se size it requited cix tugs to assist the Baltic into clock. One of Iho two bij; sleameis built for tho Cunaul licet, with public inonoy loaned on exceptionally fuvouiabte cireumslaneivi is so lar advanced that it will bo launched next year. It is being built on tho Tyno by John Brown and (Jo., who lecently turned out from tho Clyde tho Caronia, a twin-screw steamer added to tho Cunard licet on the usual terms of i private enterprise. The Caronia is 21,000 ton.s. The yet unnamed now ship building on tho Clyde will bo near 30,000. A curious question is, snjvs Mr. Henry Lucy in tho Sydney lie raid, engaging the mind of the buildcis und owners of Iho now «se* giant. Her height ouL of the water, oven when fully loaded, will nearly approach that, of an oidinury London llal. Tho question is, whni cll'eut upon •her speed will the power of a head wind hiive upon her? Of course, much greater will bo the clfccb of half a gale, either from port or starboard, meeting tho muss of her broadside. As thero is no ship afloat of her build mid size, the problem will remain involved till &ho makes her tirst pav.su go to Now York. A.s a pi oof of the increasing predominance of the German flag, it is pointed out that tho number of German ships passing through tho Suez Canal has greatly increased, and that their total tonnage hns been moro than doubled during the last five years. In ,1903 494 ships, with a tonnage of nearly 2,500,000 ton*, passed through tho Canal, as compared wibh 356 ships, with a total tonnago of less than 1,500,000, in 1898. The Berliner Post, which is responsible for these, figures, notes that tho first place is still held by the English Peninsular and Oriental Company, tho Noith German Lloyd coming next, tho Han.sa Bremen lino is third. Tho dues paid to tho Canal by the German fehips uniuunt to about 13,000,000 marks annually. Fairplay, the London shipping paper, of 14th July says: — "Ten days ago the Gormau barque Telhis left Glasgow for Taltal in ballast, and hwst week tho Glasgow-owned' barque Arctic Stream left Cardiff in balla.st for St. John, N. 8., and her sister ship the Gulf Stream left Belfast for New.castlo, New South Wales, also in ballast. It io nob uncommon for French vessels to go out in ballast to Newcastle, New South. Wales, as their sailing bounties enablo them to do that sorb of business, but it is a now departure for Britishers, and affords a striking commentary on tho present wretohed condition of the outward freight markets on this nido." Speaking at an engineering gathering at Dunedin, Mr. Jos. Mills, Managing Director of tho Union Company, remarked on tho vast changes in tho development, of shipbuilding during tho past 20 or 30 years. Tho engine Jims, ho sayt*, developed from the ordinary condenser finst to compound, then to triplo and quadruple expansion. Ab the present moment we are on tho eve of a very great transition in the shape of tho turbine, po that engineers, however perfect their qualifications may bo at tho moment, must always be prepared to brush themselves up and keep thcimolvos abreast of the times. There is no doubt tho turlMiiu has como to stay— -at all cvontrt as a substitute for tho reciprocating ongino in vessels of high «pcod. Many shipowners are recognising this and adopting tho now mot hod of proputaion. Others hold back, not because they question the great advantages of the turbine, but because thoy vay it in tit ill in its infancy und that before many years ore over vast improvements may be expected; and thoy prefer to wait until thoy can avail themselves of tho new invention in it« most highly-developed and perfected form. Mr. Mills is of opinion that whilst many improvements will no doubt bo effect od in the turbine, the greatest improvements aro to bo exported in connection with propellers. Tho pnopoliers of a turbine ship aro small, nnd\ attain a much greater number of revolutions than in the case of on ordinary twinscrew vessel. The revolutions of tho latter are usually from 100 to 110 per minute, whereas in a turbine of the Loongana class they reach 600 per minute ; while in tho cttso of Atlantic liners the revolutions will probably bo 250 per minute. Tho extra propeller speed introduces new dillkultie* which have yet to be thought out by engineers. Another question touched upon by Mr. Mills was Iho use of oil fuel, which represents a very important departure. Ho contended thut it has been proved beyond donbb that oil as fuel presents many advan.tngoH over conl. In tho first place, you avoid tho loss of timo caused in ordinary steamers by tho cleaning of fires ovory four hours. Then, og^in, tho firing is done mechanically by means of a spray, so that thcro are no stokers or trimmers required — an enormous udvantago. This may ultimately become' a pressing question, though meantime- it is not of direct interest to this colony, seeing that we can got coal at a reasonable prico, whereas oil is difficult to obtaiu. The question is being debated whether in any case the world's supply of oil will bo equal to tho demand which would be made in the ovont of the genoral adoption of oil luol by the mercantile marine. TJio lot " of tho purser on Atlantic traders is anything bub a happy one. From his title ono would think (sayfl a writer in the Strand) that ho had only to look after tho flnanco of tho vessel, bub in reality his ofiico, so conveniently and Victuresquely situated at tho top of tho grand staircase (which in boats of less magnificent proportions would bo simply-termed tho "companion"), is really as busy a bureau as any in Capol Court or Wall-street. It is no doubt legitimate enough lo expect tho purser to bo quite au fait with tho monetary matters, to explain to tho Britisher the difference between v dollar and a crown, or to the American thab tho greenback, thab useful bub unsavoury medium of oxchango, ia treated with scorn and cdntoimoly in Europe ; but our American friends aro pur excellence tho interrogators of the world,' and to them Iho purser is simply a walking encyclopaedia. He is expected lo tell them all about tho ship — that's right enough— but they want lo know oil about the passengers as well — who they are, whero they havo come from, and whero they aro going> how much they are worth, and any little titbit of news about their social life. He is also n-sked about every hotel, beginning at Liverpool and ending ftb Rome, the besb shops whereat to purchase different articles t who will give tho best discount for cash, where tho questioner's wife can bo best rigged up in European fashion, and the most likely resort at which his daughter might run across some impecunious scion of British nobility. , , The Italian barque Leonardo, which wa« lost in Torres Strait recently when bound from Sydney to Reunion, was .a wooden vessel of 521 tons net, and was built in the year 1892 by Mr. A. Cnstollaiio, of Caßsa.no, Italy. Sho was owned by a company, the manager of which is Mr. Cocace. The Leonardo was 143 ft 7in in length, 32ft 2in in breadth, and 16ft 4in in depth. She was registered at the port of Cnsbillamare, in Italy.

Turnips may now bo sown. Sow small beds at frequent interval*, cay onco a mouth; they gob tough very, quickly in summer time.