OF SHIP CONSTRUCTION, 85 



Devices for measuring the working strains in engineering structures have been con- 

 structed and are constantly being made more efficient. Comparative results of strain studies 

 for similar ships, with different systems of framing but under similar conditions of loading, 

 would be interesting, and would, no doubt, throw additional light upon this important sub- 

 ject. The writer had hoped that his remarks might elicit information either from some such 

 source or from actual tests of frame bracket connections, and it was with this hope in mind 

 that they were prepared. 



The President : — Mr. Sperry's suggestion affords food for reflection. He is a very 

 chivalrous gentleman, and would be the last man in the world to call a lady names. In 

 the good old days when ordnance experts wished to take a fall out of the naval architect, 

 a ship was called nothing but a "gun platform." Mr. Sperry has gone far beyond that 

 and called a ship nothing but a "gutter." He has added insult to injury, and has also tended 

 to detract from the splendid achievements of the torpedo-boat destroyers in the great war 

 by saying, inferentially, that they had nothing but a tin roof, since he referred to the 

 "gutter" being attached to the "eaves." Plowever, it is refreshing in scientific discussions 

 to have this little by-play occasionally, and I feel quite sure that Mr. Sperry would be the 

 very last to use a wrong characterization of a lady, even though she be a ship. 



We have reached the conclusion of our morning program. We will now take an ad- 

 journment until 2.15 o'clock this afternoon. The Members of the Council are requested to 

 meet near the rostrum immediately after the adjournment of the morning session. 



The meeting then adjourned. 



