160 



THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



the sea-valves, and that little stone was 

 forced in when the submarine grounded 

 on a sandbank about a week before she 

 foundered. One of our own submarines 

 narrowly escaped loss because an engine 

 exhaust-valve became fouled and would 

 not seat properly. Again, another under- 

 water craft had some of her tanks flood- 

 ed with an excess of ballast because of 

 a chip of wood that had clogged a valve. 

 We must remember that the sea is more 

 of an enemy toward the submarine than 

 toward a surface vessel, for the reason 

 that when the submersible is in battle 

 trim she is completely surrounded by 

 water seeking an entrance with increas- 

 ing force as the boat settles deeper be- 

 neath the waves. 



Since the Laurenti dock first made its 

 appearance about four years ago the 

 Fiat-San-Giorgio has developed a novel 

 advance in the shape of a mother-ship 

 having within her a tubular testing dock 

 long enough to receive submarines up to 

 190 feet in length, This special craft 



has a normal seagoing displacement of 

 3000 tons and can make 14 knots an 

 hour at full speed. She is driven by two 

 heavy oil Diesel engines operating twin 

 screws, and at a lo-knot cruising speed 

 has sufficient fuel to take her 4000 miles. 

 The mother-ship uses the same fuel as 

 the submarines, for which she consti- 

 tutes a mobile supply base. 



The Italian government has just added 

 to its fleet a special vessel of this sort. 

 She is at once a mother-ship, a supply 

 ship, a repair vessel, a testing dock 

 the tube can also be used as a dry-dock, 

 and a salvage craft capable of raising 

 a sunken submarine. The mother-ship 

 is supplied with numerous compressors 

 and dynamos so that she can charge the 

 air-flasks of a flotilla and also charge 

 the storage batteries thus saving the 

 machinery of the submarines. In order 

 that she can hold her own against an 

 enemy's destroyers, the mother-ship car- 

 ries a battery of rapid-fire guns of the 

 necessary calibre. 



DIMINUTIVE RAILROAD FOR 

 FREIGHT YARD SERVICE 



A portable track and car of small size 

 is in use in a Brooklyn freight yard for 

 transporting heavy objects. Where space 

 is limited a portable railroad of this sort 

 is useful. The track is made in sections 



A Portable Railway and Hand Truck Greatly Facilitate the 

 Handling of Merchandise. 



of six feet, which may be readily bolted. 

 A turntable is used when there are cor- 

 ners to run. 



"MOVIES" ON A SKY-SCRAPER 



An innovation is planned by the archi- 



tects at work on the sky-scraper 



to be erected by the Consol- 

 idated Gas, Electric Light & 

 Power Company in the heart of 

 the Baltimore shopping district. 

 On the roof of the twenty-two 

 story structure a moving picture 

 parlor will be installed. 



This enterprise will be started 

 in an auditorium which will have 

 a seating capacity of between 

 600 and 800 people. It will not 

 be confined to the use of the 

 occupants of the building, it is 

 understood, and artistic an- 

 nouncements of the various pic- 

 tures to be shown will be dis- 

 played in the foyer or lobby of 

 the theatre. 



