The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-19

pressed by more than one when 1t was learned that the Titanic, the last word in the shipbuilders' art, had gone to the bottom after a few hours | following the collision with the berg. No one ever believed this could happen" said P. A. s. Franklin of | the White Star line: we believed
 her to be absolutely safe and so did TL1oyd's.'
 | Luxury, instead of safety, was be- coming more and more, the rule. until palm gardens, tennis courts, and other features took up the deck space which | could have been used better by life boats and rafts. These, with the ad | dition of suits de luxe, with windows | looking out upon the sea, have com pressed the deck space, and all this must mean less room for boats. Be sides. as one man said some weeks | before the Titanic accident, life boats are so seldom used"
 In the discussion as to the carrying | Of sufficient lifeboats mep who have
 made study of shipbuilding are still wondering what happened to the wa tert1ght bulkheads on the Titanic, the one precaution which was expected to | make her unsinkab ble. These men
 are eagerly waiting the official report on the loss of the Titanic, for there is the possibility that its publication may result in changes in the construc- ton of vessels now planned or in the
 building.
 Tn the design of a ship the subdi.- vision of the hull is a matter which receives the most careful considera- ton and the construction of water tight bulkheads is one which has not only received the most careful atteE- tion of marine architects, but is the subject of rigid regulation by the British Board of Trade. The great est marine engineers of many coun- tries have contributed to make pos s1ble the present system of making a vessel a series of water tight com
 partments by the closing of doors in
 her hull: Shipping men have been
 confident of the efficiency of bulk
 heads, and so the public has come to look upon the unsuitable ship. You could cut the vessel in half, and both ends would not sink" was
 the boast of a skipper of enc of the
 modern transatlantic liners not a
 month ago.
 In the Cunard liner Mauretania, as was the case with the Titanic, her great hull was divided by twelve transverse bulkheads and intermediate wing bu1kheads fitted with side bunk CTS dividing them into spaces about forty feet long. There were 15 wa ter-tight compartments.
 At the forward end the main com partmentS were small, so as to min imize danger due to. collision. The longest of the compartments was the forward boiler room, which was nine ty feet, but, as the width of the Ti- tanic was considerably reduced owing to the fining of the lines here, the
 area of the compartment was not so
 great as was suggested by it's length.
 It was said that any two of the com
 partments could be flooded without
 materially affecting even the. trim Of
 fho hi yhn o1r i>,
 head system was the amidships sec t1on, where the engines were located This weakness it was thought, would
 be partly overcome by longitudinal
 bulkheads.
 The coal bunkers were arranged
 alongside the boiler compartment,
 right fore and aft, and the main ma
 chinery space was divided into three
 compartments by Longitudinal bulk
 heads, so that for nearly $50 feet
 the Titanic had an inner and outer skin, not only on the bottom but on
 the sides. sufficient. it was said to
 prevent the effect of collision or
 grounding making a rupture in the
 inner plating.
 Hydraulic power was generated by pumps in the main engine room, which were always in operation and maic-
 tained at all times water pressure. The pumps discharged into a system
 of pipes carried throughout the ship. These pipes extended to the forward boiler room bulkhead, and there was fitted a screw-down valve, the opera ton of which admitted pressure into a subsidiary pipe line, simultaneous ly closing all bulkhead doors
 The Captain or other officer liberat- ed the valve handle by moving aside a clutch gear. The turning of pres sure into the closing pipes caused the ringing of large gongs at each bulk head door station.
 The closing valve was so arranged that in the event of the doors hay ing been closed from the bridge, the pressure was relieved in any one case in order that man imprisoned with in water-tight compartment might release himself