NON-ROLLING PASSENGER LINERS. 109 



Mr. Sperry: — We have made better time, several times between different ports, in a 

 storm, than we have in calm weather. That ship might have been under somewhat greater 

 stress during the stormy weather, but it was not under the enormous stresses that were 

 introduced when she rolls and pitches also. That is the best way I can explain the matter. 



Mr. WetherbeE : — There is another thing — is it not possible that the ship, when roll- 

 ing in a rough sea, is disturbing less water than when she is not rolling in the same sea 

 conditions? The rolling ship may actually disturb less water than the stabilized one. 



Mr. Sperry : — I think the answer to that is the fact that we were able to make in heavy 

 weather better time with the stabilized ship as against the unstabilized ship, that is to say, 

 on the same course and in the same direction. 



Mr. Wetherbee : — The last thing is that this precession motor does require a small 

 movement of the ship before it starts in operation — is not that true? It has to get its im- 

 pulse from something, and that comes from the small initial motion of the ship — is not that 

 true? 



Mr. Sperry : — The precession motor does not depend on the ship at all for its operation. 

 It depends on the little pilot gyro which performs its full function the first tenth of a 

 degree. 



Mr. Wetherbee : — It does depend on a small motion of the ship to start the thing? 



Mr. Sperry: — It certainly doea 



Mr. Wetherbee: — I got the idea from the paper that the stabilizer was able to tell 

 when the roll is coming. 



Mr. Sperry: — The additional value of the pilot gyro is that it always enables us to 

 proportion the compass according to the desire — no two waves of the ocean are the same — 

 a wave may come from a given side as much as three times, before anything comes from 

 the other side. This tells us and we can adjust the apparatus accordingly. The gyro starts 

 in to precess from a very slight motion, and from that slight motion the gyro is at that time 

 performing the whole act of stabilizing the ship. The motion starts in and the gyro pre- 

 cesses until it has quenched the motion of the vessel and rolled the contact apart. 



Mr. Wetherbee : — I have not had very much experience in connection with the hand- 

 ling of vessels at sea, although I have been at sea considerably, and it always struck me on 

 a passenger ship, for instance, the motion you feel is more the pitching than the rolling. 



Mr. Sperry : — I am very glad you brought that question up — it has arisen many times 

 in the last ten years. If anybody is in the bow or away back, it does seem as though the 

 motion is very great. Anywhere in the midship section it is not very apparent, because the 

 degrees there are very slight — 2.7 degrees is the highest angle you have. 



The British Admiralty years and years ago appointed a commission to find out the oc- 

 casion of seasickness. Their verdict was it was the sum total of all the motion. Sir William 

 White said if you can suppress the biggest motion you can get rid of the biggest part of the 



