The evening times., 1898-06-25
CoAL1NG A wARsHIP.

Our big navy Is eating up coal at a
most terrific rate. 1t Is estimated that
1.000.0 900 tons will te consumed II the war
lasts year. Under l.coo boilers coal IL
being licked up every moment. The
steam gauges must be kept up. In 1891
our navy burned but $4,000 tons of coal,
but then our warships spent most of their
time at anchor. either with their fires
banked or entirely out =.
Conditions are different now. Not only
the regular fighting ships. but the dozens
of auxiliaries which have oeen pressed.
into service. are under a full head of
steam all the time. either waiting to
jump at moments notice or steaming
up and down the watery highways of the
sea. "
1t is costing Uncle Sam about $4,000 a
day for coal alone. for he has to pay al
sorts of prices. from & to 3l8 a ton. When
his ships are at home port. he can buy
the best of coal from 81 to $3.50 a ton. bu.
in some Of the South American ports he
is obliged to Pay whatever the coal mer-
chants ask, and they are not always mod
est in their demands
But the price OF coal does not trouble
us. We can afford 1t. 1t is the difficulty
of getting coal when and where 1t Is
wanted and the further rasH OF getting II
in the bunkers quickly that bOthers.
Bunkering Is always a slow. tedious
process. It is the one disadvantage of
steam navigation which has not yet been
overcome. ,..y
Coaling at a wharf Is tedious enough;
coaling at sea is still more difficult. A
great amount Of money has been spent in
experimenting with new devices for coal
ing vessels. but as yet no process where
rapidity is a factor has been discovered,
In coaling the auxiliary cruiser Har-'
ward, about fifty men are employed inside
the ship. The average amount Of coal
bunkered Is 5000 tons. and the time re-
quired to stow it in the bunkers Is about
forty hours. This, when warship is in
a hurry to get 10 sea. Is a long time to
be used in slowing coal The average cost
of this work Is about 81 600.
Among the mechanical inventions for
this purpose Is a barge provided with
square boxes that will hold about forty
tons each. These boxes or compartments
are arranged 80 that they can be sep
arately raised by mechanical means
above the level of the ships port The
coal is then discharged through shoot
into the ship. The device can hardly be
The great trouble is not in finding a de-
vice that can load the coal on the ship.
but In taking care of IL or slowing it
away after 1t Is on board. Coal cannot be
received on board any more rapidly than
Ii can be stored. The amount of coal
that can be slowed away is about a ton
per man per hour.
In the West Indies they have not even
advanced this far. and more primitive
than "a ioaerihed re atilI
in vogue there. The work is done exclu-
sively by negro women. who in slow
and measured tread file to and fro over
the gangplank. each carrying about 1oJ
pounds of coal In a basket on her head.
In the Mediterranean ports the work Is
done in much the same way. except that
men instead of women do the work.
A great deal has been said and many
suggestions have been made on this sub
ject by naval constructors. who appre-
ciate the deficiency in the present mode
of bunkering warships and who are earn
estly looking for some arrangement that
will expedite the present tedious and in
convenient way of accomplishing this
work. II is said that in the newest and
latest improved warships of the United
States Navy the demand for space is
never satisfied. Naval officers have al
ready learned that the coaling operations
of n great warship are of vast import
ance, as 4 modern battleship or cruiser Is
as dependent for efficiency on coal as on
ammunition.
One of the most popular devices for
loading coal fs what is known as the self
idischarging barge. which. In Comparison
with othersl is regarded as being success
full In these barges the coal Is drawn
out and carried 'ap an incline plane to an
altitude that will permit delivery through
shoots into the ports of a ship. This is
done by means Of endless carriers or con-
veyers that.are4run by steam. One engi-