150 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



The electrical apparatus continues to give satisfaction ; the dynamo 

 has been in operation three hundred and twenty- three hours and nine 

 minutes during the last quarter. Four 3-light safety plugs have been 

 melted out, and one key socket broken, all of which I promptly re- 

 placed. I tapped the engine-room circuit and placed a lamp over the 

 circulating pump, which was very much needed. 



Advantage was taken of the ship being docked, at I^ew York, to over 

 haul the sea valves, screw propellers, shafts, and stuffing boxes. We 

 found it necessary to entirely replace the packing of our stern bearings. 

 There was some corrosion in the shafts near the brass jackets, all of 

 which were carefully scraped and painted. 



The steam windlass, never having given any trouble, nor requiring 

 any repairs, merits special mention. 



The steam winch and feeling engine have given scarcely any trouble, 

 and have done their work admirably. 



The smithing of the ship has been satisfactorily done by one of our 

 first-class firemen. 



The spf'aking tube has been overhauled, and many joints, hitherto 

 leaking, have been repaired and telephonic communication re-estab- 

 lished between the engine-room and pilot-house. 



The Dividson Pump Company voluntarily, and without compensation, 

 supplied new stud bolts for the circulating pump, to diminish the lift of 

 the valves and relieve the thump. 



The " Little Wonder" injectors work very well, one at a time ; if both 

 are placed in circuit it is a little wonder if either will continue. They 

 deliver the feed water hot, and are an acquisition when the main engine 

 is not in operation. 



The receivers were ordered to be enlarged — by the engineer who de- 

 signed the ship — when the crank angle was changed from 145° to 90°. 

 This was effected by placing a large convex bonnet on each low-press- 

 ure valve-chest. This increased the receivers from 1^-^ to 2j\ times 

 the volume swept by the H. P. pistons. Seeing an excellent oppor- 

 tunity for a valuable experiment I took the responsibility of putting 

 only one of the new bonnets on, and selected the starboard engine for 

 that purpose, so that for all the steaming recorded in this log-book, the 

 port engine had the small receiver, and the starboard engine the large 

 receiver. The results show no essential difference in the performance ; 

 what little difference does appear is in favor of the engine with the 

 small receiver. I therefore reduced the starboard receiver by restoring 

 the original valve-chest bonnet. 



I would respectfully call attention to the high temperature of the 

 engine-room, which I fear will become so great in hot climates as to 

 seriously injure the men. 



The steam heaters have been overhauled, six new angle valves put in 

 place of six broken ones. Two new heaters have been bought for the 

 cabin (one being for the office) ; they have much greater surface tban 



