288 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PASSENGER STEAMERS. 



sides of a bulkhe0.d to be fashioned to suit the furniture to much better advantage than 

 with ordinary panels. 



Lighting, heating and ventilation have improved of late ; steam heat is largely replaced 

 by electric radiators, which are particularly adapted for individual room heating in associa- 

 tion with a thermo-tank system raising all the air to about 60°, leaving the balance required 

 to electric radiators. 



With oil fuel, piping problems become more complex; the air escapes from the amid- 

 ship tanks are sometimes difficult to handle in way of passenger spaces, an excessive possible 

 head on the tanks being only avoided by taking them out through the shell. Oil fuel galley 

 ranges are also a modern touch in oil-burning ships. 



Communication and indicating devices get more complicated, fire-alarm systems, pneu- 

 mercators, gyro-compass systems and submarine bell listening devices are among the newer 

 modern tendencies. 



Better bulkhead subdivision has helped fire protection; with alternates carried up to 

 the top decks, modem ships have been afforded a much better chance of confining and sub- 

 duing a fire. 



The extra boatage now fitted on passenger ships has given trouble. Better bulkheads 

 argue for less boats, though "boats for all" is rightly the generally recognized minimum 

 acceptable. The writer feels that more rafts might well be allowed, especially where bulk- 

 heads are good. 



Compulsory air ports on the lowest passenger deck might well be reconsidered. They 

 can seldom be opened at sea, they are menaces when so opened, and more reliance on good 

 lighting and ventilation from above appears to be a better solution of the question, particu- 

 larly where cabins replace open steerage quarters. Warships get along very well in that 

 respect, where men are berthed behind armor with no side ports. 



The extent to which oil has been substituted for coal as a fuel calls for comment. 

 Lloyd's returns indicate that 22j^ per cent of the world's total gross tonnage uses oil for 

 propulsion, as compared with 3 per cent in 1914, a stupendous increase and one that is mainly 

 in vessels of American registry. Correspondingly coal has dropped from 89 per cent to 72 >^ 

 per cent for the same period. This has resulted in a great increase in oil construction, both 

 for ordinary ships' bunkers and for oil tankers. From the point of view of this paper, the 

 recent conversion from coal to oil of several famous liners is to be noted, also the fact that 

 our ships of the American Legion and Old North State classes are all primarily oil burners. 



STANDARDIZATION. 



This heading to many here will seem like the beginning of a discussion of the methods 

 of making a series of progressive runs over the measured mile; it does not mean this form 

 of standardization but refers to the general one of engineering standards. 



It is not necessary to state that a great deal of work has been done of late years, on 

 both sides of the Atlantic, looking to the obtaining of the benefits of standardization. When 

 in Europe last year I was much impressed by the work done, under Sir Archibald Denny's 

 genial and able leadership, by the British Engineering Standards Association. They have 

 revised their rolled steel section standards, inviting us to cooperate. Some work has been 

 done here along those lines and this society, with others, has appointed committees to act in 

 conjunction with the American Engineering Standards Committee. As a result of the war 

 we are in much better shape than formerly as regards the obtaining of a wider range of steel 



