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N'HAUTICAL NOTES.
SIDE LIGHTS AND SCREENS.
FIRE-FIGHTING INVENTION.
That those who direct large mercantile
concerns have worries to contend with
outside the realm of legitimate trade com
petition, is shown In a sneech recently de
livered by Mr. Ward. of the well-koown
firm of.William Denny Dros.. shlobuildera.
of-Dumbarton. In'the icourse of-o lietare
ou ,"Shlpbulldersl';Worries" that i ontle
man said that bad'tlme-leceplie was a very
real trouble inathe obipyard. and the pity
wastthatothe professlonoshould be so hin
dered and hampered- by. It.- It was -a
humilatlina fact that the measure of the
shblnbuildlng otitpilt on all: their shlilp
buildlng.rivers had.to be measured. not
so match by the.equliment of the yards eon
caged In'it, as by the time thie unsteady
men of thc ri?ettlng department cared to
work. He confessed to much sadness In
knowing- that shlpbuildtng, through the
high ntagea carned when workina, should
be the means of producing dissipnated
hal?its "in manyi of its workmen. who so
waosted, their time, means, health..and on
Dortunities, as to make their high wage
thie'reverse of a blessing. Certain was he
that wages whichl in an average lifetime
could have left many workmen in com
narative comfort in their middle and old
age had'been of no bhonefit to them or their
families, but instead had given the' latter
sad and hurtful experiences such as they
should never'have seen or known. Over
and .above that they had the periodical
Bohemianlsm of the rivet boys who con
trived grievances with the. specific aimaof
having a holiday.. At one time the coke
was too bad to work with. at another'tha
rivet "tangs were ower heavy." The same
thlno was true of the men ato -holiday
timed. No matter whether tho holidays
were long.or short, a couple of days extra
wdre invariably taken. despite the fact
that'the engines' were started. this fur
naces hot. and the foreman and stHff'all
in. their-places. For years past he had
appealed to his men to start when the yard
opened, but all was in vain. -
- n a conoimulcatlon to the Trinity Board
Catain B. R. Combe. master of the-cable
steamer Dacla. makes a suggestion in re
gard to the side lights on vassenger steai
mers. He points out that there has been
a great Increaso In the number of mam
moth steam vessels navigating the great
marine highways, which ravel at a high
rate of speed. and as a rule are a maze of
electric lights. On passing or overtaking
such vessel With numerous tiers of elec
trically lighted cabions it was often ve
difficult to Dick out the.red and green side
lights from the glare. and but for the
practice now becominc common of carry
ing'double masthead lights it was mooos
sibhle'to tell what way these vessels were
travelling. But the double masthead
lights onlY ilndicated one Dart of a steamn
er's moveaents. and by no means ocrmlt
ted the sidelichts to be disoensed with.
To overcome this dillculty Captain Combe
suecests that after sunset when the order
Is. given for the regulation lights to be
exhibited. each cabin porthole should be
screened with a small green curtain on
the starboard side and a red curtain on the
port.side. These curtains should not 'be
thin enough to permit the beams to travel
any great distance, but at the same tnie
should be sufliciently thick to produce a
red or green glimmer near at hand. The
red and grieen sidelights would .then h?e
easily picked out, and a serious element
of risk avoided.
When the Cunard liner Etruria was
approaching Liverpool from New -York
recently,'her coming was heralded by' ad
message sent by the captain by means -of
wireless telegraphb, which gave some
details of the voyage and the amusements
which had been Indulged in by the pas
sengers.; Several.Interenting experiments
were also0 made off the Irish coast, and
when the Etruria was about twenty miles
west of Fastnct a message of several
hundred words was received from Reu
ter's-agency. The message was sent from
p wireless telegraphy station at Brow
Hoid, and contained the latest news re
gardlng various matters of international
iniportahce. The experiment, which was
the first-of its kind ever made by a news
agency, was a complete success. Signor
Marconi, who was n passenger by the
Etrurla, in commenting on the result,
expressed the belief that by means of
thls-system it would be possible to -have
a daily -paper publishgd -on the Atlantle
Incrs.in mid-ocean giving the passengers
nll the latest neons.
A.nbvel decision has been given in the
U.S. Distrlct Court in Brooklyn, to tbohe
effect tbat.n a awhlch applies to a yos
sel. whennafloat cannot be held to apply
to.the vyessel if in dry dock. The ease
woas that of Martin J. Garvey, who had
lIBelled the steamer Woarield because of
Injuries which he bad sustained by fall
ing through a hatchway of the vessel
while she was in dry dock for repairs.
Tha libel was dimissed upon the ground
hatn tite. Admiralty. Court hbd no Jurls
diction, a vessel being in dry dolck not
being on navigable waters, nor is the
dry. dock a vessel in any sense, but a
part f th c.land itsell.
,Dr. W. Ij. Eames, of this city, has
cvolved a scheme for arresting fires In
the holds of vessels which should be of
great use to nautical men. The appara
tus consists of a fairly watertight
wooden box or trough, built upon the
floor of each hold, at the lowest
point, and as near the centre of the bulk
heads as possible-or if in coal bunkers.
at tihe bottom towards one side-a small
pipe leading from the deck to this trough.
In coal ships the thermometer tube could
he made to serve the purpose, and when
loading general cargo the tube should be
allowed to remain a permanent fisture. The
troughs are filled with a few tons of mat
erial aboit as bulky as coal, and this, with
a few gallons of an easily stored liquid
completes the entire outfit. The invention
naturally cannot be disclosed, but the-prln
ciple consists of using the tube to reach
the material stored in the troughs, and
setting up hemtical action, chiblch results
in.the hold becoming charged with u suf
fclent quantity of gas which. although non.
explosive, will arrest a heated condition
and prevent ire. In cases of coal cargoes
heating the invention would be extremely
useful, as the heat is usually generated
in the centre of the cargo, and wrell dow
tosards the floor. Where such heating
takes place floodlng with water or dis
charging thle cargo have hitherto been the
only methods of-dealing with it. Dr. Eames
clllms that his system will check spon
taneous combustion where there are evi
dencep of heating; extinuguish fire where
it has already occurred; and prevent the
occurrence of an cxploslon from a mixture
of gas anld air. The entire cost of litting
out a ship with an apparatus sumicient for
chargis the bold six timnes is estimated at
about £20. As the material does not de
teriorate with ago or exposure to thile ac
tlon of salt water, it may be carried for
yeurs, and is always ready for use. The
invention Ihas been brought under the no
tice of the United States Government. by
Dr. W. F. Goding, United States Consul at
Newvcastle, In his consular report,
$