ELECTRIC PROPULSION OF SHIPS. 123 



Mr. W. L. R. Emmet, Member of Council: — Before discussing Mr. Thau's paper, I 

 want to call attention to something that has just occurred, something that was told me a few 

 minutes ago. I spent a few days on the battleship Maryland last week and was very favor- 

 ably impressed with the operation of the machinery, and there were various complimentary 

 remarks from others on that subject. I have been told that there was an article in the news- 

 paper this morning saying there had been some sort of trouble with the machinery on the 

 Maryland. I have just been told by two officers at this meeting, who have just come ashore 

 from the Maryland, that she is lying at Tompkinsville and that there is no trouble in connec- 

 tion with her. I thought I would mention that fact. 



Mr. Thau, in discussing this subject, has done so in a manner which I should say was 

 very impartial. He has worked on the machinery of these ships, and gives a good idea as 

 to the various methods which are applicable to the electric drive of ships and of the character 

 of apparatus used in their varied service. 



There are one or two points in Mr. Thau's paper where I think the case has been a 

 little imderstated. In the matter of reliability I have always been of the opinion that the elec- 

 tric method of doing anything was the most reliable, and where anything was broken or dam- 

 aged, electrical apparatus was easy to repair. I do not simply think it is on a parity with 

 other methods. 



The question of the economy of the electric drive, as compared with gears, is a subject 

 concerning which I will say a few words later. 



As to weight and space. In Mr. Thau's statement about merchant ships, he has not 

 called attention to the fact that in certain electric drive merchant ships already equipped, and 

 possibly in many others, a very large amount of space, weight and cost can be saved by 

 leaving out shafts and shaft alleys, and the arrangement of the ship can be made more 

 convenient. 



Cost is a question which I think could generally be decided about as Mr. Thau has decided 

 it, but there are many contradictions in that respect. Some little time ago we bid on equip- 

 ments for some 12,000-ton transports that were being constructed in considerable number. 

 We were the lowest bidders on electric drive and offered the best guarantees. We also made 

 our electric bids on exactly the same profit basis that our gear proposition was based upon, 

 in the case of these ships, and the electric was the cheaper. There have been only a few elec- 

 tric-drive ships equipped, and a great many geared ships, and when these two methods are 

 reduced to a basis of comparison it has in many cases been found that the electric drive is 

 not much more expensive than a conservatively proportioned gear drive. 



There is a suggestion in the paper of a possible difficulty through lack of training the 

 men. I know Mr. Thau does not consider, any more than any other electric man does, that 

 there is any such disadvantage in the electric drive, because I know that he is an enthu- 

 siast on the subject, and our whole experience with electrical application on land is that 

 everybody is afraid of it before the apparatus is started, but it is very popular the first day 

 after the apparatus is started, with the whole operating force, and that has been the experi- 

 ence on ships. The Jupiter started with a set of green men, and they were all enthusiastic 

 about the apparatus immediately, and that has also been the experience with the different 

 warships. 



In the matter of maintenance, the impression is given in this paper that electrical ma- 

 chinery is on a parity in the matter of maintenance. The Jupiter has been operating for 

 seven years without any maintenance expense, I am informed — at least, I do not know of it. I 



