Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-08-01
UNITED STALe PLANS
|MPROvEMEMl<Si>!N
BATTLESH|PS
With Use of New Gas Engine
Many Changes VIII Be
Possible In Fight
Ing Ships.
VULNERABLE PARTS
BELOW WATER LINE
Decks viii Be Given Up to the
Guns and There will Be Nothing
in Sight to Be Attacked Mo
Smoke to Betrdy Pres
enCe of Vessel.

Washington, Aug. 1.-The war ves-
sci of the future will be swift,
smokeless, noiseless craft, lying low
in the water, with every vulnerable
part below the water line, the entire
deck being given over to the work Of
the guns. There will be no smoke, be-
cause there will be no smokestacks.
In the night time there will be moth
ing to betray the presence of this in
yincible fighting demon to the enemy.
This prediction was made today by
Robert Haywood Fernald, mechanical
engineer who has for several years
been connected with the fuel investi-
cations of the United States geological
survey.
Mr.. Fernald believes that the gas
engine or internal combustion motor
as it is called by engineers, will be
installed in naval vessels of the Unit
ed States within the next few years.
81 expect to see the United States
ahead of every other nation in this
innovation" said Mr.. Fernald. "The
gas engine, in my opinion, is feasible
on any vessel because of its economy
over the steam engine, but 1t is espe-
for the reason that 1t makes no
smoke. The gas is generated In a pro-
s!ucer which has no chimney and
needs none. The coal is turned di-
rectly into gas which goes straight to
the engine.
"The smoke nuisance has been a
serious problem to the navies OF the
world for a number of years. In the
af t1xr's
ship has been discovered miles away
by the smoke from its stacks and In
the night the flames belching from
tops of the stacks have spoiled many
a we'll laid plan of attack.
"The elimination of the smoke Is
sufficient to call for the installation
OF the gas engine, yet there are many
other features in its favor. The vessel
would have a free deck for the play
of it's big guns. There would be no
towering stacks to puncture or destroy
thus perhaps crippling the boat. Then
II would be unnecessary to carry as
much coal for the same power can be
developed with one-third less than
the steam engine uses. If neces-
sary it would be possible to carry
more coal which would give the ves-
sci a radius of travel far greater
than at present.
"Of course, / do not expect to see
the gas engine confined to the use
or the navy. The fact that 1t shows
such economies will compel its install
lation in all sorts of vessels. One or
the big items of expense to a modern
ocean liner is its coal bill These ves-
sells will consume 10000 tons of high
grade coal on a round trip. With the
gas engine this could be reduced to
6 900 or 1000 tons. saving of sew
eral thousand dollars. Then what a.
boon it would be to the citizens or
New York, Philadelphia, Boston and
other seaports to have all the vessels
entering equipped with smokeless en-
gines. In New York harbor, consid-
cradle percentage of the smoke comes
from the river craft.
zone of the big steamship compa-
nies of the Great Lakes is about to
take the initiative in this movement.
Plans have been made for freighter
that will use a 1000 horsepower gas
engine. This company is not making
the experiment because of the smoke
from the stacks of its vessels but in
order to demonstrate the economy of
the gas engine over the steam engine.
At present this concern is paying SO
a ton for coal. and its manager fig
ure a considerable saving If the gas
engine proves a success in marine
work and l see no reason why 1t
shouldn't. Already the marine type
of gas engine has been designed up to
1000 horse power The future will
see much larger units"
The government, through the Unit
ed States geological survey has been
experimenting with the gas producer
and gas engine for several years and
has demonstrated that this type of
engine in stationary plant is capable
of generating from twice to three
times as much power from a given
amount Of coal as the steam engine.
It has also shown that the gas engine
can develop more power from low
grade coal such as the Ignite of
North Dakota, than the steam engine
can with the same weight of the best
bituminous coal.
The purpose of the government has
not been to develop the gas engine,
but to increase the efficiency in the
utilization OF the coal supply of the
country which is now being used at
an enormous rate. Experts declare