The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-03-18

II This psrtrf- shows ~ here the hEhslnr -
i began. Colonel Smith ~ th. gallant offisSr
/ while at his station the firing linr The
as they are With crude WEAPONS. they verv y
pumps. feed pumps. bilgc pumps. IRE
pumps. circulating pumps for the con-
denssrs and air pumps for the vacuum
chambers. usually in duplicate in case
OF accident. will number nitccu or
twenty separate engines. The dyus-
mos. which supply the ships every
compartment with light and give her
the wonderful might eyes called
search lights. purr In airs tn the shaft
tunnel.
In a special compartment a double
CyiindcTed engine. always busy while
the ship - at sci. answering the i'm
pulses OF a toy wheel in the pot house,
or on the bridge. pushes the massive
rudder this way or that. making ID pos
siblc for a single heimsman - control
the leviathian's every movement by a
finger touch. With the old hsud gear
four men. reinforced by block and
tackle. had their hands fail with the
steering of big vessel in heavy
weather.
On deck. under the forccastie head.
a steam windlass with the latent power
OF 200 horses. hoists the anchors that a
hundred men could not break out OF
a muddy bottom. as II they were toys.
At every hatchway there Is another
windlass or winch. driven by double
engines. for hosting and lowering ear
go TN loading and unloading. and for
handling boats or sails in case of ne
ceSsity.
Men must still stow the cargo and
man the boats-the machine does the
rest.
Special engines hoist the ashes from
the boiler room OF the modern ship to
the deck-a daily task which made the
fire room force grumble soreiy in the
early days OF steam naVtEa ion. and
yet other engines driving immense fans
ventilate the cabins and stokeholds
and supply a forced pressure OF air to-
assist the perfect combustion OF the
furnaces.
Modern ships. frcighters or liners.
are most Of them equipped with rctrig-
orator compartments for the storage OF
perishahle supplies.
Ice has no part in the ships system
Ut refrigeration. Ammonia gas. CON-
pressed by a powerful engine and
forced through miles OF steel tubes.
makes possible any desired tempcra-
ture in any refrigsTatiVe compartment.
The modern ship. indeed. makes her
own ice. as she dtstills her own fresh
water while at sea.
The vitals OF the modern ship are be-
low the water line. The engine room
and s;okeholds contain her lungs. heart
and stomach. But the braius-rcpre-
scented by the captain and his officers
are placed afar off-hiEh up ON the fly
ing bridge or behind the glass windows
OF the pilot house.
IL Is imperative that the brains
should be tn position t0 convey direct
and instant suggestions TO All he other
members OF the floating aggregation of
entities which for the nouce exists az
an individual. To that end the ship
has delicate and highly organized
nervous system. consisting ~ an in
frity OF tubes. wires. dials and bells.
From bridge or pilot house the cap
.aiu or executive officer dominates the
entire massive fabric as readily as he
dominates the members OF his own
body. y deck equipped with a number
| Cf labeled electrical buttons enables
him 20 control instantly his signal
lights. high M ON the masts-to Hash
a message 20 any passing ship or Co
/ any station on q nearby shore. The
same keyboard enables him 20 com
municate with any compartment 81 the
vessel-to summon any man og men to
his company.
Beside the keyboard "a the electrical
telegraph" or telessme. more proper
". which leads to the engine room. Il
Is outwardly a glass-faced dial on a
tall brass standard. \ little hand lin.
controlling an indicator and ths print
ed divisions tn the ssSmeuts OF the
diars circle show It's use and purpose.
ahead" ''astern." half speed" '-fuil
speed. - stop" Those are the few ord
ers which the bridge must send to the
engine room frequently and instantly.
The telessme does IL by a mere turn
OF the lever to- the proper signal.
OF barometers. seXtants. range find
ers. Compasses and chrouometers. every
modern ship carries dozen or more:
but they. like the patent log. trailing
far astern and registering the ships
speed. are instruments. not machines
adapted 20 the solution of problems
OF geographical position and meteoTo-
logical condition. not to the solution of
the basic problem of relieving the man
OF pEysiCaI labor and multiplying his
wording efficiency.
The ola ship was a graceful fabric ia
which man was the slave and playth!uE
OF the clements. The modern ship u a
scieliific instrument In which man j.
the dominant. serene controller OF the
natural laws and natural forces which
for 5000 years have had their Whim-
steal will OF him and his.