FOREST AND StRfiAM. 
Putting the Powei^ Boat in Com- 
mission* 
BY A. E. POTTER. 
Now that the whiter is partly gone, it will soon be time 
to think of putting the launch or auxiliary boat into shape 
ior next season. There is much to be accomplished, and 
some of it can be done as soon as the weather is suitable. 
Everything will need overhauling, so that when the boat 
15 ready for launching there will be no delay in getting 
into commission. 
On the outside of the boat the principal things to be 
looked after are the rudder, the strainer over the pump 
suction, stern bearing and propeller wheel. 
See that the rudder works freely, that the pintles are 
not worn; and one thing in particular, see that the tiller 
16 not loose on the rudder head. Next examine the 
strainer to see that it is not filled with dirt, grass, etc. 
The propeller wheel should be looked after; if loose, 
tightened up, and the retaining nut and lock nut, if one is 
used, carefully examined. Lift the propeller and shaft to 
see if it or the stern bearing shows excessive wear. If 
the boat has an outside stuffing-box, take out all the pack- 
ing and see that the shaft is smooth where it comes in 
contact with the packing. Put in new packing, using 
square hemp, which is braided in tallow. Add plenty of 
graphite and oil or hard grease. If you are unable to get 
any braided hemp small enough, ravel out some and re- 
braid it. Do not wind it about the shaft, but put it m 
in sections that will go just around the shaft. Screw the 
gland up until you can feel it is snug by moving the pro- 
peller wheel back and forth. Do not get it so that it 
binds, for it will swell as scon as it gets wet. If the en- 
gine has an inside stuffing box, do not screw the gland up 
until after the boat is overboard, and in that case you will 
not get it too tight. 
A good coat of bottom paint put on in March, after 
the surface has been smoothed with sandpaper, is an ex- 
cellent protection; or better still, do that in the fall when 
the boat is laid up. All nail holes should be filled with 
beeswax, which can be softened in the mouth to the 
proper consistency. Painting the top sides can be left 
until just before launching, when another coat of bottom 
paint should be applied. There are three colors of bot- 
tom paint— red, green and brown. The red and green 
both look better than the brown, but will not last as long. 
The tank should be carefully looked after, cleaned out 
and' examined for any chance of leaks. If it is made of 
galvanized sheet iron or steel, it should be taken out for 
more careful examination. If you can afford it, replace it 
with a good hot rolled copper one, with , the bottom or 
side where the gasolene pipe enters reinforced with a 
piece of copper several inches square, riveted and sweat 
on the inside before the top is put in place and the tank 
closed up. The connection for the supply pipe should be 
a short piece of brass pipe with a regular pipe thread on 
one end and a valve screwed on it, the other end a long 
thread. On this long thread a lock nut previously filed 
bright and tinned on the outside should be screwed up as 
far as it will go. This pipe should pass through the 
double metal of the tank and have a lock nut, also bright- 
ened and tinned, screwed up snug. In addition these two 
lock nuts should be soldered carefully both inside and out. 
You can then be reasonably sure that there will be no leak 
at the pipe connection of the tank next season or in 
several seasons . to come. If you have a galvanized iron 
tank, you are never sure of it after the first season. If 
it rests on pieces of , pine it will last longer than if it 
rests on pieces of green oak. I have known cases vvhere 
from that cause alone a tank has not survived a single 
season. Galvanized 30 and 60 gallon house boilers make 
good tanks, but they need to be examined and tested 
frequently. 
Get all the dirt out of the gasolene pipe, taking it apart 
at all low spots and pour gasolene through it to wash out 
sediment and possible dirt. This brings you up to the 
vaporizer or carburetor. Be careful to use shellac on 
all gasolene joints. Never use red lead and oil. _ 
Your old batteries having been removed, likewise spark 
coil, etc., look over the wiring carefully, brighten the con- 
tacts at the switch, and if it looks as if it was wet or 
damp, better renew it, for its extra cost is very little. 
If your engine has a reversing wheel, examine it care- 
fully, for they will not run much without loosening. 
If a reversing gear, look it over carefully, see that it is 
not rusted and works easily. The dogs may need tighten- 
ing up, but I would not touch them, except to possibly 
even up their bearing, until the engine is running and the 
clutch does not hold. It is not best to have the clutch 
any tighter than necessary, for it has a strong liability to 
drag when going astern if too tight. 
If the engine is of the two-cycle type, I should by all 
means advise taking the piston and connecting rod out, 
especially if there seems to be any lost motion at the con- 
necting rod bearings, and it will be remarkable if there is 
not. Next see that the bearings through the end plate or 
plates or where the shaft itself runs are not loose and 
badly worn. The forward one is the more likely to give 
trouble. You can tell this quite readily by lifting the fly- 
wheel to see if there is any play. If it shows to be loose, 
a new bushing should be provided or the end plate, if of 
cast iron, should be bushed with bronze, being careful 
to drill an oil hole through it. End plates and where the 
;base and cylinder separate should be cleaned off care- 
tully and good heavy wrapping paper and shellac used to 
make the 'joints tight. The crank case should be cleaned 
•carefully "and washed out with kerosene. The fitting 
of the connecting rod to the crank-pin should be done 
by someone who knows just how, and one should note 
whether the connecting rod lower bearing is worn straight 
across or bell-mouthed. If the latter, it shows conclu- 
sively that the shaft and connecting rod are not in line 
with each other. 
. Examine the wrist-pin to see if it shows excessive wear. 
The sides of the piston should be examined to see if they 
are worn on the top above one end_ of the wrist-pin hole 
and on the bottom on the opposite side. Such a condition 
would show that the hole through the piston was not ex- 
actly at right angles. The piston rings should be exam- 
ined and if stuck into their grooves may have to be re- 
newed. If they are rusted it shows the presence of water 
in the cylinder at some time, and that should be guarded 
,«gainst carefully in the future. Before replacing the head, 
examine the rocker shaft that operates the clapper inside, 
making contact with the insulated electrode. If it is badly 
worn, both that and the bushing in which it runs will 
need renewing, likewise the arm on the outside vrfiich 
operates it. If the engine operates on jump spark or the 
igniter can be removed from the outside, the head can be 
replaced. If you have any suspicions that water had_ ever 
leaked into the cylinder, look to the top of the cylinder 
carefully for traces of a leak, a blackening of the metal 
or iron rust. 
For a gasket use a combination of brass wire gauze and 
long fibre asbestos paper with graphites on one side and a 
combination of red lead, etc., on the other, which can. be 
purchased from almost any supply house. Just as soon as 
the engine has run a few minutes, stop it and screw up 
the nuts holding down the head, for they will be bound 
to have loosened as soon as the engine warms up. 
Look over the pump carefully, replace the checks 
in the valves, and put new packing in the stuffing- 
box. See that the eccentric strap on the shaft which 
operates the pump and igniter is not too loose. Take up 
lost motion wherever you can. Don't do anything by 
guess. New mica may be necessary on the insulated elec- 
trode, but I should, with an old toothbrush and some 
gasolene, clean it carefully and see whether or not it 
looked intact before attempting to renew it. Don't at- 
tempt to cut these washers out of sheet mica, for it will 
prove unsatisfactory and a tedious job. Get the built-up 
washers from the factory, also an extra set of igniter 
springs throughout. You may not need them, but their 
cost is light, and if you should need one and not have it, 
it would be worth more to you than the cost of an entire 
new set. Adjust the length of contact and the timing 
of the spark, and when ready to start the engine, put in 
the batteries and connect them up. The last thing to be 
looked after, and one of the most important, is the 
vaporizer or carburetor. These should be carefully taken 
apart and tested to see if the needle valves are tight and 
all small holes are cleared from small particles of dirt or 
sediment. If the engine has been run a year, the chances 
are about even that you will need a new vaporizer. The 
reason for this is that the tendency for all angle check 
valves is to wear on the sides of the seat in line with the 
discharge making the opening slightly oblong, and unless 
this check valve is tight, there will result a considerable 
loss of gasolene, which will spit back into the boat and 
become an element of danger. 
If the engine is of the four-cycle type, it wih usually 
not be necessary to remove the piston to take up wear of 
the crank-pin brasses or of the main bearings, as the 
crank case dees not need to be tight. The inlet and ex- 
haust valves should be carefully ground into place. An 
excellent material for this purpose is the dirt which set- 
tles under a grindstone. Be careful that none of it gets 
into the cylinder. Be sure that the valve stems are not 
stuck in the guides, that the igniting apparatus works 
well, the length of contact and timing are correct, and 
then try j'our compression. If this is good, oil up wher- 
ever oil is needed, fill the oil cups, and if you did not 
add, any oil after cleaning out the crank case, pour in a 
cupful or so to each cylinder and your engine ought to be 
in 'shape for running, and while not just as good as new, 
sufficiently in shape to have many a fine day's sport, free 
from either trouble or breakdown. 
Queries on Marine Motors. 
Q. E. R., Bayonne, N. J. — Is elm ever used in the United 
States for boat timbers?. 
Ans.- — In a description of some of the launches shown 
at the Paris Automobile Show, several are mentioned as 
having elm timbers. Oak is the only thing generally used 
here, although sometimes hackmatack, red cedar and ap- 
ple tree throats are used where natural crooks are desired. 
H. R. G., Albany, N. Y.— Would you call a consumption of 
four-fifths of a pint of gasolene per hour per horsepower in a 
marine gasolene engine too much or too little? 
Ans. — The consumption of gasolene in marine gasolene 
engines rarely is less than one pint per hour per horse- 
power, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. Honest 
horsepower and honest consumption of . fuel are both so 
scarce in automobile and marine engine construction as 
to be practically non-existent. 
B. E. B., New Haven, Conn. — ^1. Will it cost more or less to in- 
stall a two-cycle than a four-cycle engine in my boat? 2. Which 
will probaljly cost the more for repairs? 3. Will it take more cells 
of battery for one than the other? 
Ans. — I. The cost of installation will not vary a great 
deal. The engine bed cannot be too heavy, especially for 
a two-cylinder four-cycle engine. 2, If the engine is 
properly protected from the elements there will be little 
dift'erence. If left out and abused, the four-cycle will cost 
more for repairs. 3. The same number of cells will 
usually operate both types, but a double cjdinder two- 
cycle engine, operating on an open circuit, will use just 
twice the amount of battery or electrical energy that a 
four-cycle will, all other conditions being the same. 
H, R. B., Norfolk, Va. — Which are the better to use in plank- 
ing a boat, brass screws or copper nails? 
Ans. — Never use copper nails unless they are riveted 
over copper burrs. A clinched copper nail is not much 
better than a raw wire nail. Galvanized boat nails are 
better than clinched copper nails. You will probably 
have better results with nails than screws. 
Syndicate Boat for Lipton Cup Races. — Thirty mem- 
bers of the Toledo Y. C. have subscribed $100 each to- 
ward the building and running of a 21-footer which will 
be built to compete in the races for the Lipton Cup next 
season. The cup is now held by the Detroit Country Club, 
and the races will take place, off that port. 
>? •? 
New Auxiliary Cruiser.- — Augustus Dean & Son, of 
Alexandria, D. C, are now building an auxiliary cruiser 
for a Mr. Goldsborough, of Washington, D. C. The boat 
will be used on the Potomac and the Chesapeake. She is 
40ft. over all, 14ft. breadth, and of shallow draft. The 
sail spread will be liberal, and she will be equipped with 
a gasolene motor. 
YACHTING NEWS NOT; 
For advertising relating to this department see pages ii afld iii. 
Proposed Massachusetts Legislation Regulating 
Noisy Power Boat Exhausts.— Judge Davis, the Demq- 
cratic Representative from Plymouth, has introduced a bill 
in the Massachusetts Legislature requiring all power boats 
using -the explosive type of engine to either exhaust 
under water or use a muffler subject to the approval of 
the chief of the State police. We have not the context of 
the proposed act, and do not know whether or not the 
act is framed to cover installations already made, nor if 
boats owned in other States would have to be inspected, 
by the State police chief before they could be operated 
in Massachusetts waters. The proposed law might cause 
a great deal of needless expense to the owners of power 
boats in making th^ necessary changes, which, outside the 
cost of the muffler itself, would likely be considerable. 
If the matter is left to the chief of the State police, he 
can select a style and type that would be cumbersome, 
expensive, hard to obtain, and practically prohibitive. On 
the other hand, it is impractical to run the exhaust of a 
two-cycle engine under water. This cannot be done 
satisfactorily, and the two-cycle engine manufacturer 
would be put to a decided disadvantage thereby. The 
ordinary four-cycle engine, except in certain cases, can be 
made tO' exhaust below the surface, but that also is 
usually quite unsatisfactory. Water in the valve chests 
and cylinders, and broken cam shafts and valve stems can 
frequently be traced to water in the exhaust piping. 
The two-cycle engine usually makes more noise than 
the four-cycle from its construction, which it is unneces- 
sary to explain here. Some manufacturers muffle their 
engines more than others from their better understanding 
of principles covering their design, while others, were 
they to muffle their engines to the point reached by others, 
would be able to get very ordinary to poor results. It is 
this latter class who would suffer more than the better 
designed engine manufacturers. There are, we are sorry 
to say, some who rate their engines higher than others of 
the ,same dimensions are rated, and depend upon little 
muffling to help out overrating. Some manufacturers 
in the past have furnished two mufflers with their en- 
gines, and the owner of the boat would promptly discard 
at least one, and fortunate would his neighbors be if he 
were to even use one of them. There are others who put 
in a tee and valve, and when they wish a little extra 
speed — particularly from 2 to 5 A. M. — open the valve 
and gloat over the disturbance they make. If legislation 
inust be had, and there is no other way out of it, let a 
committee of practical engineers — not necessarily gasolene 
engine men — investigate carefully what causes unpleasant 
and noisy exhausts (engines do not all have them), co- 
operate with the manufacturers, who later, if it proves 
necessary or expedient, may be forced to furnish with 
each engine a muffler that will be sufficient to reduce the 
sound to the least amount consistent with reason, and not 
prohibitive to the manufacturer. Then force the boat 
owner to use the muffler furni.shed. Do not, under any 
circumstances, allow the powerboat and gasolene engine 
industry to suffer should one man, be he chief of State 
police or town clerk, err in his judgment and knowingly 
or not condemn a gasolene. engine installed in a boat, with 
no power of appeal or chance for redress without recourse 
to the law, its complications and delays. 
If a gasolene engine makes too much noise in its ex- 
l.'aust, .in most towns a complaint to the local board of 
health will usually abate the nuisance. 
8^ 1^ 1^ 
A.MERICAN Launches at the Paris Salon D'Automo- 
BiLE. — There were- but three American-built launches , on 
exhibition, and not a single British-built boat. An Eng- 
lish correspondent claims that the American-built hulls 
were shapely enough, and the interior work good, but 
takes exception to the planking, which, he says, will not 
'"compare for a moment with French or British work," 
It is also with some complacency that he predicts "that 
Great Britain will shortly take an assured lead" in the 
industry of engine and boat building. And this with im- 
ports into Great Britain each year of hundreds of Ameri- 
can-built gasolene marine engines to one exported to the 
United States. It certainly looks that way. 
I« K St 
The True Sportsman and the Power Gunning Punt. 
— One of our English exchanges, in glowing accounts, 
points to the power-driven gunning punt, explaining its 
possibilities, its location, size, construction of the boat, 
etc. The laws of several States absolutely and rightfully, 
loo, prohibit the shooting of ducks or other wildfowl 
frcm any boat propelled by any means other than oars. 
Even in at least one State the "sneakbox" is prohibited. 
But with no restraining law, the question that arises 
in our minds is, would a true sportsman shoot a duck or 
any other wild water fowl from a power boat, steamboat 
or even sailboat? 
« H 
Hudson River Yachting Association.— Representa- 
tives of the prominent yacht clubs located on the Hudson 
River will meet at Newburgh some time this month for 
the purpose of forming the Hudson River Yachting Asso- 
ciation. The following clubs have signified their desire 
to join an association: Tappan Zee Y. C, Yonkers Y. C., 
Poughkeepsie Y. C, and the Newburgh Canoe and Boat 
Association. The object of the association will be to 
promote inter-club racing and cruising, and to bring 
about closer social relations between the organizations 
interested. Arrangements will be made for two regattas 
during the season of 1905, one at Nyack and the other 
at Newburgh or Poughkeepsie, 
m n n 
MoTORBOATS ON THE Canals OF Venice.— -Former U. S. 
Consul Bliss, who was stationed at Venice, and is now At 
St. Petersburg, says in a letter to the Department of 
Commerce that the power boat can be made to supersede 
the ancient and antiquated gondolas on the Venetian 
canals. Yankee manufacturers will not be slow to grasp 
the situation, judging from activity following previous 
consular correspondence, especially with reference to Cen- 
tral and South America. Wonder if the regulation now 
in force that all gondolas shall be painted black will apply 
to power boats? 
