118 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 
—are purely English. Another purely English one (which, being a com- 
bination of steam and oil, is exceptionally interesting) is the Still engine, 
of which that on the Dolius, built by Messrs. Scott of Greenock for 
Messrs. Alfred Holt & Co. of Liverpool, has been successful. The first 
double-acting four-stroke cycle marine engine in this country was developed 
at the North-Eastern Marine. 
While the turbine developed from the fast passenger-vessels direct 
driven, to the slow cargo-boat with gearing, the Diesel started in the slow 
cargo-vessel and is developing towards the faster liner, of which the 
Aorangi of the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand, built this year by 
the Fairfield Co., is, at the time I am writing, the most notable example. 
The question naturally arises—what will be the final outcome? I 
find that, taking Lloyd’s Register alone, in 1919 there were 750,000 tons 
gross of motor-ships, while five years later there were 2,000,000 tons gross, 
84 of the vessels being of 6,000 tons gross or over, and it has been asserted 
by responsible people that the disappearance of the steam-engine for over- 
seas trade is now largely a matter of time ; but on the other hand we have 
an equally authoritative statement that the Diesel engine ‘ will not have a 
dog’s chance against the future steam-engine for ship propulsion.’ It is 
never safe to prophesy unless you know, and therefore I shall not attempt 
to do so; but the battle between the turbine and the Diesel is set, and 
nothing but benefit can arise to science and trade as the outcome. On the 
one hand we have the geared turbine with much higher steam-pressures— 
500 lb. per square inch soon will be, I presume, commonplace, and 
1250 lb. has been used on land. On the other hand we shall have the 
two-stroke double-acting Diesel climbing up in power per cylinder and com- 
paring more nearly with the unit power of the steam reciprocating engine. 
One frequently hears of an internal-combustion turbine, and recently 
there have been statements made which would almost make us believe it 
had arrived. While I admit to being sceptical, of one thing I am sure— 
that there can be no halt in invention and advance in thermal efficiency. 
We are sometimes found fault with by our clients the shipowners, 
who claim that they have no sooner settled down and adopted our latest 
improvement than we render their new ships obsolescent by some new 
invention. I once asked an American why they constantly changed the 
pattern of their boots ; I said I was surprised that their bootmakers did 
not ‘ stick to their lasts’ until they were worn out. ‘ Ah, yes!’ he said; 
‘but what about the last-maker ? He must make new lasts to live, and so 
he alters the pattern.’ We do not change the fashion of ships and their 
machinery primarily with such an object in view, but in the pursuit of 
economy in cost of working and fuel-saving. 
The foregoing is the briefest of brief outlines of the changes in the 
main engines of ships, but the development in auxiliary machinery has 
been of tremendous importance and extent. 
In the early days of my experience, marine engineers were much 
troubled by boilers strained in getting up steam or by collapsed furnaces 
due to deposits of lime, salt, or other matter mixed with oil, even at the © 
lower pressures. At the higher pressures this collapsing of furnaces became 
so serious that one found a special department attached to many ship 
and engine repairing firms for the express purpose of setting up buckled 
— 
ee 
OO Pies pos. 
furnaces. Perhaps no one in those early days was more assiduous in 
