164 APPLICATION OF STANDARDIZATION AND GRAPHICAL 



in Great Britain a great number of firms have been constructing such boilers for 

 many years, and consequently each firm has a large range of designs at its disposal, 

 it seems but natural that considerable difficulty would be experienced in harmoni- 

 zing different opinions in order to obtain uniformity of design, but in this country 

 we have to face a somewhat different condition, and it would appear that standard 

 designs could be readily determined upon which would both decrease the cost of 

 production and result in more uniform performance. 



While in the application of sound principles to their work the experience of 

 many of our builders is not exceeded elsewhere, and while in the investigations 

 concerning the propulsion of vessels possibly more valuable data have been con- 

 tributed by American naval architects and engineers than by any others, the fact 

 remains that the growth of our shipbuilding industry has been very sudden of 

 late; and while machinery, and good machinery, has been built at points far re- 

 mote from the seacoast, there are to-day many firms building engines and boilers 

 that have not at their disposal the results from many successful installations such 

 as are possessed by the older shipbuilders. 



It would therefore appear that an effort toward the standardization of boilers 

 would be opportune at this time, and it is the object of this paper to indicate the 

 general direction in which this matter might be approached. 



This paper is to be devoted entirely to boilers of the so-called Scotch type, 

 which are subject to faulty design, due to the designer lacking sufficient previous 

 data to build upon, and an effort will be made to supply data which will enable any 

 designer to plan a boiler which will give good results. 



The author has referred to the cylindrical return tubular boiler as a so-called 

 Scotch boiler purposely, since in a publication entitled "Treatise on the Marine Boil- 

 ers of the United States," by B. H. Bartol, issued in 1851, there appears on page 

 39 an illustration of the boilers of the S. S. Hermann, which boilers were designed 

 by Erastus W. Smith and constructed by Mott & Ayres of New York.* 



While these boilers were undoubtedly of the so-called Scotch type they were 

 fitted with what used to be known as wet uptakes, a practice long ago abandoned 

 when higher pressures became more common, making this type of construction 

 unsatisfactory. 



Since it appears that this boiler was originated in the United States it would 

 only be fitting were standard designs of this type of boiler developed in this country 

 also. 



There is to-day quite a difference between boilers of the same dimensions built 

 by different manufacturers ; and, as stated before, where a new designer wishes to 

 plan a cylindrical return-tubular boiler there is not a great deal of really definite 

 information available to enable him to be sure of his results. 



It is hoped that the data given may at least be a step in the direction of obtain- 



*Due credit for the above paragraph should be given Mr. Ernest Peabody, who drew the writer's 

 attention to the illustration referred to. 



