Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-17
CALIFORNIA OIL
BURNED IN NAVY
TESTS MADE ON MONITOR
CHEYENNE
EXPERIMENTS PROVE NEW FUEL
SATISFACTORY
War Vessel in Port at San Pedro.
Committee from Chamber of
Commerce Entertained
by Officer


a visit aboard the United States Mont |
tor Cheyenne Wednesday afternoon
representatives of the San Pedro cham |
Der of commerce and The Herald cor
respondent were entertained by War
rant Machinist Frank r. Ingram, who
showed to his guests the result Of the
tests made so far in the use Of crude
oil for fuel as compared with coal.
AS the Cheyenne is the only vessel
in the navy burning oil for fuel, and
Mr.. Ingram is the head Of the working
engineers aboard, the information he
gave is Of interest as it will be part
Of his report to the government which |
will be sent to Washington on the COM
pletion OF further tests which will |
demonstrate the, economy Of burning oil |
instead Of coal.
The guests aboard were Secretary w.
f. Bickenbach, H. w. Gross and E. D. |
Seward, all OF the local chamber of
commerce.
The oil that Is furnished the Cheyenne |
comes from the wells OF the Union Oil
company of California, and Mr. Ingram |
has noted during the week that the
vessel has been in this harbor that the
oil taken aboard from the tanks here
is a higher grade Of oil than that re-
ceived at San Francisco, but wherever
oil is taken on board Mr.. Ingram makes
a test of it by means of instruments
which give its specific gravity, the
amount of water in the oil and its
flashing point
Taking his guests below decks, Mr.. |
Ingram explained the manner in which
the oil is used for fuel. THE oil burn |
ing system we are using" said the en-
gineer, sis the Staples-Pieffer system,
and I will show you the application Of
the oil under the boiler" Throwing
open the furnace door where one Of the
burners was not in use Mr.. Ingram
turned on the oil and also the steam.
In a few seconds the clear white fame
was burning under the boiler. Mr..
Ingram took apart an extra burner and
explained the rotary application Of the
oil and steam.
Develops Big Horse Power
when the oil comes aboard" said
Mr.. Ingram, 'it is pumped into three
big settling tanks. The water that is
in it, being heavier, settles to the bot
tom and is drawn off. We carry 1448
barrels Of oil, which will last US nine
Steaming days. We also have 10 tons
of coal, which will carry us along for
three or four days more. We have four
boilers with two oil burners each, and
when running under full power we use
about five gallons Of oil a minute. This
gives us from 1900 to 2400 horsepower.
I'm an hours time we can shift our
oil burners and be ready to burn coal, |
or we can operate if we desire one of
our triple expansion engines by using
oil and the other engine by using COAL"
Asked as to the result of the tests,
Mr.. Ingram continued: I'VE have
demonstrated that oil is far more salts
factory than coal. You noted the white, |
clear flame produced. With the oil
everybody is comfortable and clean. |
There is SO smoke, no cinders, no ex-
cessive heat. The boilers are painted
white and remain white. Then with
oil only one-third as many men are re-
Quired to keep up the steam pressure.
AS to the economy in consumption we
will make several tests next week off
Santa Barbara and ascertain the rela-
tive quantity of coal or oil required to
make a mile at average speed"
Asked as to the probable outcome of
the experiments, Mr.. Ingram expressed
himself emphatically: Our tests have
been highly satisfactory, and I predict
that oil will be introduced as the fuel
in monitors, gunboats, torpedo boats
and the cruisers, as great saving will
result to the government
Before leaving the engine room the
Compressors were pointed out, the state
n1ent being made that $50 cubic feet of
air was compressed each minute. The
interested guests sampled the pure dis
titled water which a few minutes be-
hHnT7 hriY "a
of the ocean outside.
Workings of Guns
In a trip around the vessel the work.
ings of the mammoth 12-inch guns in
the forward turret were explained In
detail by Boatswain John Davis, who
was officer of the deck at the time
was officer of the deck at the time. In
passing it may be mentioned that from
other sources it was learned that Boat
swain Davis is one Of the heroes Of the
Span1sh-American war. 1t was Davis
who cut the cable at Glen Fuegos,
Cuba, and, although wounded, he sur
vived and was awarded a medal of
honor by the government. Mr.. Davis
was painstaking in his explanations of
the workings Of the guns, the ammuni-
ton hoists and the automatic doors
which protect the ammunition rooms
from a spark from the gun.
Owing to the absence ashore Of Com
mander ]. ]. Knapp the pleasure of
meeting that affable officer was fore
gone, but gathered around the warrant
machinistS mess room, which is used
for social quarters as well as for a
dining room, the visitors met a num-
Der of the officers, among them being
Lieutenant Commander H. T. Baker
the executive officer then in command
of the ship.
It was in this cozy room that the
hospitality of the mess was shown, for
an invitation to "stay to dinner" was
given and accepted by the three guests
The bountiful meal was really a ban
quet, and good cheer was enjoyed by
all. In this mess are Warrant Ma
chinists Frank F. Ingram, H. E. Burks
and T. j. Hayes, Boatswain John
Davis and Pay Clerk A. s. Freedman
These five gentlemen are a jolly bunch,
but Mr.. Ingram is really the leader of
the quintet in wit and humor. AS a
story teller one would go far to find
his equal. Before the dessert was
brought on Midshipman c. c. Clark
Joined the party and participated in the
few hours of good fellowship which
followed. Owing TO the courtesy of
Boatswain Davis special launch was
dispatched to convey the guests ashore,
Cheyenne Once Wyoming
s Before the departure, however. Mr..
Ingram showed the synopsis" Of the
vessel which give all the details of tba