PROGRESS IN MARINE CONSTRUCTION GRACIE. 705 



to such men as James Watt, Scott Kussell, Brunei, John Elder, Sir 

 William Pearce, Sir William White, Dr. Elgar, the Froudes, the late 

 Dr. Denny, and many others who have passed away, as well as to 

 the Hon. Sir Charles A. Parsons and others who are still fellow 

 workers with us. Active and daring minds have ever been questing 

 forward, and no opportunity for advance, no probability of new 

 development, has been allowed to pass without thorough sifting and 

 examination. The needs of the coming years have been anticipated, 

 the engineer has ever been in the van and not in the rear of material 

 progress. We have seen how the ocean liner has steadily advanced 

 in dimensions and speed. The only apparent obstacles to continued 

 increase are those connected with finance and with the sizes of docks 

 and harbors. In view of past experience, he would be bold indeed 

 who would place any limit upon what the future will bring forth. 



[The president, in moving a vote of thanks to the lecturer, re- 

 marked that his subject was a national question of vital importance. 

 The growth of British oversea trade during the past 10 years had 

 been phenomenal, having now reached, according to figures given hj 

 the First Lord of the Admiralty a few days ago, the enormous sum 

 of 355,000,000 sterling per annum. Such figures indicated the gi-eat 

 importance of the subject with which the lecturer had dealt so 

 exhaustively, and he had the greatest pleasure in proposing a hearty 

 vote of thanks to Mr. Gracie for his excellent and instructive lecture. 



Sir John Wolfe Barry, K. C. B., past president, said he felt greatly 

 honored at being allowed, as the seconder of the resolution, to ask 

 the members to accord the vote of thanks which had been moved 

 by the president. The record of the last 20 years which had been 

 passed in review by the lecturer was one of gradual, sure, and ex- 

 traordinary progress in shipbuilding. The " James Forrest " lecture 

 for 1913 would be a record for all time of what had taken place 

 during that period, and would remain as a landmark, as it were, of 

 the progress and goal which had been reached by naval architects. 

 For such records as that the members were indebted to their old 

 friend, Mr. James Forrest, so long the secretary of the institution, 

 who, with a happy inspiration, applied money given to him as a 

 testimonial to the founding of lectures of high class; and whatever 

 the particular branch of engineering with which a lecturer was in- 

 vited to deal might be, the " James Forrest " lecture would, he 

 thought, always hold a very high position as a record of what had 

 been done in the various branches of engineering of which the insti- 

 tution was the representative body. The members of the institution 

 were not merely railway builders, or dock makei-s, or shipbuilders, 

 or electricians, for their spheres of work were manifold, and they 

 were all joined together in one confraternity. For the happy inspira- 

 44S63°— SM 1913 45 



