less than 2,300 tons were added to the register. Last year 

 there were 22,522 steamers entered in Lloyds' register, and 

 during 1909, exclusive of war ships, 465 steamers of 972,799 

 tons were launched in the United Kingdom. Practically 

 the whole of the tonnage launched was luiilt of steel. 



The vital problem for the future of ocean transport, as 

 indeed of all forms of transport, is that of economy of the 

 motive power. The most efficient types of steam engines 

 now used for marine work only realise in the propeller 

 shaft from 10 to 11 j of the total heat value of the coal 

 consumed. A consumption of coal equal to 1 H). per indi- 

 cated horse power per hour can be obtained with recipro- 

 cating engines, but only under the best conditions. Under 

 usual service a consumption of lHbs. per horse power is 

 considered a very good performance even with turbine 

 engines, but in point of fact 2 fbs. is much nearer the mark 

 in general practice. 



Experience on shore with producer gas engines has shown 

 that this type of prime mover is capable of developing a 

 brake horse power on a consumption of 1 lb. of coal or less 

 per hour, while about 1T L of the heat value of the fuel 

 consumed is turned into useful work at the engine shaft, 

 or nearly twice as much as can be obtained from the 

 reciprocating steam engine, and about one and a half times 

 that which is yielded by the steam turbine. The sum of 

 the two principal losses in the steam plant t namely, the 

 funnel and the condenser losses, is nearly equal to the sum 

 of the two most important losses in the gas plant— the 

 water jacket and exhaust losses. But wiiereas there is 

 little chance of utilising the heat thus lost in the steam 

 plant, there is promise of utilising at least a portion of that 

 lost in a gas plant. 



It seems inevitable that a system of generating power 

 which both theoretically and practically offers such a 



