Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-01-26
THE sHIPBUILDlNG INDUSTRY.
New York Tribune.

lANSN IOlh Va
Now that practically complete re-
turns for shipbuilding in 1902 are at
hand. it appears that the total tonnage
for the world vas almost Identical with
that of the year before. Apparently II
fell off 1000 or 1000 tons in an aggre-
gate of 2.723,000 Gin round numhers),
but revised figures ma show a balance
in the other direction. Still, for all m
tents and purposes. the business was at
a stand. There We're local differences,
of course, but these offset each othef
In British yards, for instance, the pro-
duction fell off about 10000 tons, reia-
lively a small amount. The United
Kingdom ranks first in the output OF
. shipping by an overwhelming majority.
Her new construction last year
reached 1,642.493 tons, which is 60 per
cent Of the worlds production. The
United States, her nearest rival, built
only 3i7,775 tons last year, n Ger
many only 272,719. Together these two
countries make only one-third as good
q showing. Actual gains Of 100000 tons
in France, nearly 40, 900 in Holland, 22,-
600 in Italy and $4,000 in JaEan are re-
corded. the first of them doubtless being
explained by the new French bounty
law, and the others being toe insignih-
cant for serious considerations. What
ever fluctuations of fortune have been
experienced III other industries, there
fore. this one on the whole has remain
ed %singularly stable.
One Of the most marked tendencies Of
the last year is the increase in the pro
portion of sailing vessels built. In
/ Dr;@;.i. orl ~, q 9 AZ. aarf nP tho
new image of 1900 was of this type,
while in 1901 the proportion was 3.9
per Ger and in 1902 Sc per eel Since
the average size of sailing craft Is much
less than that of all steamships, these
figures are much more significant than
they seem at first. To put the case :
an extreme fashion, 1t would take 200
small fishing s,nacks and coasters to
equal in displacement the 10000 ton
liner Kaiser Wilhelm II about to be
added to the North German Lloyd heet.
1t is probable that the chief gain In
sailing vessels, tho, Is In freight carriers
of considerable proportions. Nearly a
dozen four masted, square rugged ships,
each of more thar 5000 ons, were
built in Great Britain last year, While
two French yards together constructed
twenty-eight, averaging $500 tons. The
record for bigness in Europe was made
by Germany, which turned out q III
master of $3.50 ons However. the
IAmerican seven masted schooner
Thomas w. Lawson, launched last year,
displaces 5,21S tons. Besides on
of her rig, she can be handled by a
smaller crew than a ship OF the same
Icapacity. For a double reason, then,
the United States is entitled to the palm
for sailing vessels.
Few advances have been effected In
the design and equipment OF steam yes
sells. '-Superheated steam p~ressures x
ceeding 200 pounds and quadruple ex-
| pansion engines do not gain percepti-
bly, in popularity. The greater strength
lt1at comes from putting the metal OF a
lshaft Into tubular form is being slowly
recognized, but the fashion can hardly
be said to be established. Steam tur-
bines. which created so profound a sem
sation when first tried On torpedo boat
d~estroyers. have been introduced on a
few river boats and private yachts, and
will soon be used to propel small steam
Iers plying between Dover and Calias.
Yet when any one proposes to run an
ocean liner with that type of motor he
can not get a hearing. Navigators OF
big steamships want to be able TO go
EASTERN as easily as they a go ahead,
and Mr.. Parsons provision for backing
lis not liked. His main engine can not
reverse, and hence he must supplement
it with another small motor for such
service. Obviously his machinery Is
less compact than it ought to be. He
thus sacrifices part Of the most import
ant advantage that his engine possess
SEES. Until this fault is remedied, either
by the English inventor or some of bis
rivals, the application of the steam tur-
Ibine to ocean liners is likely to be de-
ferred.