Mr. HENRY LIGGINS: When the author of this Paper alluded to the practicability of his new invention, as he termed it, being applied to the Channel service, it occurred to me I ought to say a few words, because for years past I have taken some interest in, and have read more than one Paper upon, this subject. When he tells us that the alteration in the general form of ships, for many years past, has undergone very little further change than that of adapting sailing vessels to steam vessels, I beg to remind him that upwards of twenty years ago I was on board during the trial trip of a steam boat, called the Gemini, on the River Thames. That was a re-copy of an exploded and proved failure of a bygone age. I advised a friend of mine, who was about to put £14,000 into that ship, to have nothing more to do with her; but he was an enthusiast, he went into it, and lost his £14,000. I lost the pleasure of coming back from Gravesend on the trial trip of that ship, because she was utterly incapable of any amount of speed; and yet the wiseacres of this day have not profited by that lesson, because they have built a ship again with two hulls, called the Castalia; and a more egregious failure as a ship than the Castalia there cannot be, unless it is, perhaps, the Bessemer. That ship has been built on the twin principle, with two hulls; and this gentleman has written a very long and nicely got up pamphlet, which I read some time ago, to illustrate that principle; but I am quite sure he is wrong in the statement, with which he begins his Paper, as to the form and size of waves, and the manner in which vessels of various sizes conduct themselves on certain waves. I should think that his experience of waves must have been obtained, probably, somewhere between London Bridge and the Nore, and not where mine has been, in the great Atlantic Ocean, where I find myself quite as safe in an open boat in a heavy gale of wind, if she is a good boat, as I have been in the finest of the Cunard steamers. The open boats of Deal and Ramsgate prove this. It is not the size of the ship that makes her safe, or adapted for a heavy sea; it is the form which is given to her, which is the result of ages of practice and genius: and the vessels that we have, of every size, are pretty well adapted for the safe transit of the English Channel. But if you want comfort for passengers, you must have that which we all know is essential, namely, size; and size, with other advantages, will necessarily give speed; speed gives satisfaction to the unaccustomed traveller on the water, and the voyage is rapidly got over. But when Mr. Egerton clearly tells us that a vessel will go faster through the waves than over the waves, he can have had no experience of that other novelty-which he seems to have forgotten-the cigar ship. Now, I have seen that most ridiculous thing, the cigar ship, under the trying circumstances of up-and-down motion, and pitching to a degree that was something frightful, and which made her the laughing-stock of everybody who was in my company at that time in an ordinary vessel, which was not pitching at all. That was simply off the Nore, with a strong North-east wind. The cigar ship could not go at all—she did nothing but play the see-saw on the top of the waves-and I think she frightened all on board of her. Therefore it is preposterous to say that such an arrangement as this is a suitable thing for bringing cattle over from Texas, or taking ladies to the Continent. Nothing of the kind is required. The Continental service is very easily adjusted and arrranged. It simply wants a good-sized, comfortable and roomy ship, of the type we have now, not drawing too much water, so that she may be able to utilise the ports on each side of the Channel. The author talks of Spithead being a port; but I should like to know how Spithead is to be a port for the unloading of this ship, 1,800 feet long? I think it was a pity, while he was about it, that he did not say 18,000 feet long, because that would have been as easily applicable; and it would have been as easy to obtain the money for the one as the other. In fact he might have gone to the extent of saying that he would make a bridge from Liverpool to Texas, for the cattle to march across; and I believe that

would have been just as practicable and likely to be carried out as this very unconsidered scheme. Then he says, if this ship has paddle-wheels, she will turn in her own length. There is no novelty in that. I have been connected for the last forty years with the Southampton Docks. My father was the originator, and for upwards of twenty years the chairman, of that great work. I remember that the first tug, for bringing ships in and out, was made with paddle-wheels, which were disconnected, and I have seen that vessel do what peg-tops do-turn round on its own pivot. Therefore there is no novelty in a three-cylinder ship doing that. It would be a surprise to me if any vessel could not do that with disconnecting paddle-wheels on either side. This is not a subject that should be brought in this loose way before this scientific Institution, because it leads to no practical result.

The CHAIRMAN: As time is rushing rapidly forward, we will now go to the next Paper.

ON PUMPING AND VENTILATING ARRANGEMENTS.*

By THOMAS MORLEY, Esq., Member.

[Read at the Seventeenth Session of the Institution of Naval Architects, 6th April, 1876; JoпN SCOTT RUSSELL, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair.]

I Do not propose, and indeed it is impossible in the limits of this Paper, to do more than glance at a few considerations bearing upon the subjects of pumping and ventilating, and I have some little excuse for linking the two together, in the fact that some of the pumps I am about to speak of are capable of being used for ventilating purposes.

I wish to show that with comparatively little cost much greater pumping power can be given to ships than has hitherto been attempted in England, and to give some little idea of the thorough manner in which these matters are being dealt with in the Russian Navy under the very distinguished régime of Admiral Popoff.

I may perhaps be allowed to explain, therefore, that about this time last year I met Lieutenant Makaroff, of the Russian Navy, who has general charge of the pumping arrangements in all their ships, and I had the pleasure of showing him over the Imperial German iron-clads Kaiser and Deutschland, then building from the designs and under the inspection of Mr. E. J. Reed, C.B., M.P., by Messrs. Samuda Bros., of Poplar. While discussing the pumping arrangement of those ships Lieutenant Makaroff explained his own plans to me; and, at my request, he has recently sent me some sketches, and other information from Russia, and allowed me to refer to the matter in this Paper.

In order to meet or in some degree lessen the dangers of a collision, iron ships are divided into what are presumably water-tight compartments, and are fitted with pumps. It may be desirable in ships of war to increase the number of water-tight compartments, and depend rather upon them than upon the pumps; while in merchant ships, owing to the impracticability of cutting up the cargo space, it is, perhaps, necessary to depend

* Received 4th April, 1876.

chiefly upon the pumps; but, without expressing an opinion upon these matters, I may assume that in either case any increase of the pumping power is of the utmost value.

In the German ships before referred to, the pumping arrangements were very similar to those first fitted in the Bellerophon, and other ships of Mr. Reed's design, which were provided with inner bottoms, and every attention was paid to make them as complete as possible. As the general principles of these arrangements appear to have been followed in the Russian service, it may be convenient if I briefly enumerate them, and then indicate the departures from them which have been made in Russia.

An inner bottom is fitted amidships of sufficient length to include the engine, boiler, magazine and shell-room spaces. It is bounded at the fore and after ends by transverse water-tight bulkheads extending to the height of the main deck, and similar bulkheads are fitted so as to make separate water-tight compartments of the engine room, the after boiler room, the fore boiler room, and the magazine. Two other transverse watertight bulkheads, extending to the main deck, are also fitted, one of them about 10 feet abaft the stem, and the other about 14 feet before the stern-post; they are termed the collision and stuffing box bulkheads respectively. Before and abaft the inner bottom the spaces are divided by horizontal water-tight flats, and the shaft passage is made. water-tight. The space between the inner and outer bottoms is divided into several water-tight compartments, which are formed in a fore-and-aft direction by the vertical keel and a water-tight longitudinal frame at the turn of the bilge on either side; and in an athwartship direction by solid frames spaced about 20 feet apart.

Water-tight doors on the lower deck are fitted with hinges having loose pins, and are secured when shut by levers placed at short intervals all round the edges of the doors, which may be worked from either side of the bulkhead. The doors in the hold are made to slide up and down, being raised and lowered by a screw worked on the main deck. An objection has been made to such doors that they cannot be closed quickly enough, but a moment's reflection will show that the time taken in lowering the door depends upon the pitch of the screw, and if a pitch is chosen sufficiently coarse for the weight of the door just to overcome the friction, it will descend by its own weight almost instantaneously.

The pumps fitted are five 9-inch Downton's, placed on the lower deck, and capable of being worked either on the lower or main decks; two 5-inch Downton's placed on the main deck, and an auxiliary engine placed on the lower deck. This engine is supplied by steam either from a special auxiliary boiler, also on the lower deck, or from one of the main boilers. All the pumps are fitted for fire and wash-deck services, as well as

for pumping from the bilge, and the auxiliary engine, in addition to serving for either of these purposes, can be applied to drive the foremost capstan.

The above-mentioned pumps being above the water-line, with a special boiler also above the water-line, may be worked long after water has risen sufficiently high to put out the fires in the main boilers. In addition to the foregoing, the two circulating pumps of the engine condensers, which are each fitted with 12-inch bilge suctions, and the donkey pumps, are capable of being used for discharging water from the bilge.

A main drain pipe, 12 inches in diameter, is placed between the two bottoms, extending for the whole length of the inner bottom, and is connected with each compartment of the ship by pipes fitted with valves of equal area to the section of the drain pipe. Valves of similar size are also fitted at the ends of the drain pipe to connect it with the compartments before and abaft the double bottom. The upper compartments of the double bottom are connected with the main drain pipe by 5-inch pipes fitted with valves at their upper ends. A reservoir is fitted at the lowest point of the drain pipe, and the suction from the auxiliary engine is connected at this place.

It will thus be seen that the main drain pipe has command of the water in every compartment of the ship except the compartments of the double bottom below the watertight longitudinals. As no water is drained into these compartments it is expected that they will usually be quite dry, but in order to fill or empty them should they be used for carrying water ballast, or to pump from them in case of accident, stand pipes are placed in all the compartments. Each stand pipe is fitted with a valve so arranged that when screwed down it is wholly closed, when screwed half way down it acts as a non-return valve, and when the screw is up, the valve is kept open. Groups of two or more of these stand pipes are connected with each other and with a pipe leading from the nearest Downton's pump. By this means either of the compartments so grouped may be filled or emptied by the pump through this pipe. Each of the Downton's pumps has a sea suction through a Kingston valve, and suctions from the adjacent compartments of the hold inside of the inner bottom; and two of the pumps are connected with the drain pipe near the ends. This is done so that water may be let in for flushing, as the drain pipe is liable to get very dirty. Each compartment of the double bottom is fitted with a sounding tube extending to the main deck wherever practicable, and also with an air pipe led up between the frames to a height considerably above the water line. I may also mention that each compartment is fitted with two manholes, one of them being intended for access, and fitted with a cover easily removable, the other merely having a plate screwed on, and is intended to give ventilation when painting or other work is being done.

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