Vickers' Naval Construction Works at Barrow-in-Furness, recently out.' lined the possibilities of the great' ocean liner of the future from the engineer's point of view.
Speaking at a luncheon given after the launching of the Cunarder Scythia, Sir James said this vessel is so lar the largest ocean liner designed and built for burning oil fuel. For rapidity and cleanliness in bunkering and for avoiding the vagaries and uncertainties of post-war supplies, this form of fuel must be a great boon to shipowners, During the 45 years which had passed since the old' Scythia was built, there had been great progress. In 1875 one hun. dred tons of cargo required the consumption of 17 pounds of coal to convey it one mile on its ocean journey, whereas the new Scythia, travelling at the same speed as the old vessel, would only require four pounds of coal or about three pounds of oil.
As one who had taken a small part in the development of _internal combustion engines for ships, Sir James McKechnie said even geared turbines and the burning of fuel oil appeared as but another stage. and not a finality, in the' evolution of the marine engine, and he hoped soon to see the day arrive when the internal combustion engine will be regarded by shipowners as capable of application to high powered vessels of the ocean liner type, with as full a sense of security on its reliability as they had to-day in equipping the Scythia with geared turbines and oil fuel burning apparatus. Even to-day the internal combustion engine was capable of conveying one] on hundred tons of cargo for one mile with a consumption of one and a half pounds of oil fuel. That alone represented a saving of millions of tons of fuel in a single year, and ras a most important considera-ion.
A Reuter telegram from London says that Sir John Jordan, upon relinquishing his appointment as Minister at Peking, had an audience of the King at Buckingham Palace on May 10.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.