New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-17
PAPERS OF NAVAL TOPICS.
INTERESTING VIEWS PRESENTED TO THE
ARCHITECTS.


NEED OF BETTER NAVY YARDs-LEwIs NIXON
AGAINST THE USE OF CENTREBoARDs
IN YACHTS.
A number of valuable papers were read yesterday
at the second session of the convention or the 30
ciety Of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
In the hall Of the society, No. II West Ihirty-h"'-
St The same lively interest that was exhibited
THURSDAY was shown in the discussion or each
paper Yesterday and many points OF interest. both
TO professional men and the public. were Drought
out. Nearly all the prominent men VINO "eie az
Thursdays session were present yesterday anu u'i
ferences of opinion were frankly ana priInah'y e
pressed Clement A.. Griscom. the president OF 'ne
society occupied the chair. and, after NUMBER Oh
new members had been taken into the associa'io"'
the regular order OF the day began
Professor Cecil II. Peabody of the Massachusetts
Institute OF Technology. read paper on "A ny
manic Steam Engine Indicator Tester
The second paper read by Chief constructor
Philip Hichborn. United States Navy. who took as
his subject Experience Gained with Our Ne"
Steel Ships as Regards Care and Preservation
He said in part:
There is popular and not IMMATURE an mp ioUg
time without repairs. need hardy point our o
he members Of this socy than as ma the D
before repairs Of some KIND KIND VIII VII C @o mefa be-
is M n shSrt mind 1" ais, When the qualities
and functions of a modern man of,war are con on
type of the indiana Massachusetts and oregon.
She is the home of about 90 men anu i min, ana
living carries propeing machinery cd dPtan
Of driving her at any h rv with IN 400 tons Of coal
normal fighting displacement. though she C'tii Ins
xarving from the iSnch with its projectile OF llSo
pounds the 6-mm Calling which l1rss ,ns is
carried in quantities sufficient TO enable her 70 rT h
a prolonged action and still have some leIt. Inc
nd fhpir
chinery. the principal auxiliary machinery, anu anu
the by aToa aR Taryns is
in thickness The structure Of the ship mus SIZE Ue
absolutely being unduy Strained and must
moreover be minuely subdivided INTO sTa,i r1 th
shp snd foul air removed Water found IN any any
must be PS%apse S out Structure some
go feet long. So feet wide and 4S feet deep dis
plaSte contents are the those OF cube
whose edge is ST. feet II IS evioen' MI, JI ubre
IN Commission must go at rapid rate and II Is
only by constant attention 1a ana e es 'b be kept in
condition OF thorough efficiency ana ready lot
active service.
INADEQUATE FACILITIES AT PRESENT
as ono Of the means of keeping the United States
varships in proper repair, Mr.. Hichborn suggested
that the docking facilities In the navy yards be
increased He declared that the present docks were
barely adequate for the needs OF the Navy even III
time of peace
One of
was that prepared by Lewis Nixon. naval archi
,act Of Philadelphia, who took his subject
"yachts in America and England" After giving a
href review of the development Of yachting MT
Nixon said
The true aim of yachting and yacht racing Is . to
Skin, and alacrity OF the sailor in turning to use
natures own motive power al sea. the wind rms
lions which shall be permanently uniform or the
same under all conditions; that IS to say keeD9a
M
1t is mechanical device not properly a Pdrt % me
vessel disturbing the nteror nd consrcon hat
are extraneous and alien TO the true art. ana re-
curing appliances and practices in manoeuvring
that do not in any sense pertain to seamanship
proper In word. it is the introduc5iodn OF d me
purely and primarily with the forces and the DIM
culties of nature alone ,os,.o,o 90 d.
clare that in any international race eaiculatea 40 20
Signing and tact and skill in manoeuvring sailing
vessels II would be quite as sporlsnanis; io' nr
age battery to operate small auxiliary propeller
to help along in drifting match as win nr
the wetted surface and with 1t the lateral or ION,
gtudnal resistance OF his boa, ACCORDING s 10 o he
as mechanical as the other. and hence they would
be equally unsportsmanlke and unseamanlike
Captain w. T. Sampson, chief Of the Bureau or
Ordnance prepared paper on THE Present Status
OF Face Hardened Armor,' which read by Sec
rotary Caps. Captain Sampson was too Ill 10
attend the meeting. Captain Sampson concluded his
paper with the following deductions:
Whatever conclusion is reached the fact remains
that Harveying In its present state has increased
the resistance Of armor fully 81 per cent and per
haps 80 per cent according to the thickness OF the
plate. 1t has also brought about great improve
Inent the quality of our proectiles and In dong
so has perhaps lost some of the advantage IL neId
over them al first when subjected to direct I'M
pact Its superiority under inclined impact IS
nearly as great II ever was. and II does not
seem possible that in this respect the relation be
take the old position held In the time OF soft armor
Perhaps this relation may be restored however
should the thickness Of armor be reduced to a
pont allowing more than the old resistance. In
order to distribute IL over larger area or divert
the weight thus saved to other uses.
Naval Constructor Albert w. Stahi. u. s. N.
read paper strongly advocating the use OF
hydraulic power In operating the auxiliary ma
chinery OF warships. He showed how this power
had recently been developed TO an extraordinary de-
gree and had now been so improved that 1t pre-
scented many advantages over steam power.
Other papers read Notes on Launching
by Naval Constructor William ]. Baxter United
States Navy; Accessibility and Circulation Of
Water-tube Boilers" by L. ID. Davis. of Erie.
Penn. Recent Lght-draught Gunboats of the
United States Navy by Naval Constructor j. j.
Woodward United States Navy. and "Wetted Sur
face OF Ships" by Professor w. f. Durand
In the evening the members of the society had a
dinner at the Hotel Brunswick.
Among the speakers were William McAdoo AS
sstant Secretary of the Navy, and General Tracy,
late head of the department.