necessary. potash.

Rubber valves will be washed in a solution of soda and

(16) As soon as practicable after each run, the manhole plates on cylinder heads will be removed and the interior of cylinders cleaned and covered with a thin coating of oil or vaseline.

1607. (1) Water should not be used unnecessarily on the bearings; and when it is used, care will be taken that it is discontinued a sufficient length of time before the engines are stopped to allow the lubricating oil to find its way to all parts of the surfaces of the journals.

(2) When water has been used on a bearing, the bearing shall be examined at the earliest opportunity.

Bearings.

Condensers,

evaporators.

1608. (1) The tubes of surface condensers must be examined at least once in six months and kept clean. If not examined, the rea- pumps, sons for the omission are to be stated in the quarterly report. If any considerable amount of steaming has been done, the condensers must be examined before the expiration of the time mentioned.

(2) If at any time the condenser tubes are found to be leaking, steps will be taken, as soon as the engines are stopped, to prevent the passage of water from the condensers to the cylinders.

(3) Valves of sounding pipes to double bottoms must be kept closed when not in use. The height of the water in the bilges will be measured and all bilge and crank-pit strainers cleaned each watch.

(4) Independent air and circulating pumps will be started at least fifteen minutes before attempting to move the engines, or to warm the cylinders by means of the pass-over valves.

(5) When filters or grease extractors are fitted, they must be used except when under repairs or being cleaned.

(6) The valves of air and circulating pumps shall be examined frequently.

(7) The boiler feed pumps shall not be used for other purposes than those connected with their special service, except in cases of emergency; and, when not under steam, their pistons and valve gear must be moved every day and the cylinders kept well oiled.

(8) The interiors of evaporators shall be frequently examined and the tubes or coils cleaned and scaled when necessary.

(9) When evaporator tubes or coils are made of iron or steel, zinc plates shall be fitted for protectors, as in boilers.

(10) When an evaporator will not be required for use for several days, the shell and coils shall be drained and kept dry till needed for service.

1609. (1) Special mention shall be made in the quarterly reports of the condition of the boilers and the means which have been employed for their preservation.

(2) Zinc slabs shall be suspended in such parts of the boilers as may be directed by the Bureau of Steam Engineering. The senior engineer officer on each inspection of the boilers shall examine these zines and note their condition in the log. To make the zincs efficacious, special care must be taken to insure perfect metallic contact between the zincs and the stays or plates of the boilers to which they are attached, the surfaces in contact being filed bright.

(3) Slabs of rolled zinc will be used, these being renewed as soon as the exposed surface is reduced by oxidation to about half the original area. Zincs that have become bent or distorted should, however, be removed at once as inefficient. Worn and defective

Boilers.

and

zincs will not be recast for use on board. Should it be necessary to use slabs of cast zinc at any time good material only shall be used. (4) It has been found by experience that the number of zinc slabs (twelve by six by one inch) required for the thorough preservation of boilers is about one for every fifty square feet of tube surface; NX DX L that is, approximately equal to where N is the number of 197 tubes plus the number of solid stays fitted in lieu of stay tubes, L the length between tube plates in feet, and D the external diameter of tube in inches. When the number has not otherwise been determined by the Bureau of Steam Engineering, this will be the proportion used. This proportion is, however, merely intended as a guide and not to interfere with any alteration of position or number which may appear desirable or necessary for the arrest of oxidation. About one-sixth of the whole number of slabs should be put in the steam spaces.

(5) No tallow nor oil of vegetable or animal origin shall be allowed to enter the boilers. This prohibition applies to all boilers in use aboard ship of whatever type or service.

(6) The dry pipes and drains of the steam drums are to be examined frequently to ascertain if the holes in them are clear.

(7) The boilers, when empty, are to be kept dry by such means as are at the disposal of the officer in charge. The water bottoms and lower part of the fronts are to be kept free from scale and rust and contact with ashes, and well painted.

(8) Boilers that are not in use should be kept, if possible, full of fresh water made slightly alkaline, and failing this, full of salt water made slightly alkaline. (See par. 22.)

(9) When water is used from a boiler, the water line must not be maintained at a level among the tubes.

(10) When boilers are empty the furnaces shall not be primed. (11) The main and auxiliary stop valves, safety, check, and blow valves, and any other valve or cock by which steam or hot water could enter the boilers in which men are at work, will be shut and secured so that they can not accidentally open or be opened. The engineer officer having the day's duty will see that these precautions are carried out before he allows any men to enter the boilers.

(12) The safety valves will be partially lifted by the hand gear at least once each week when not under steam, to insure their good working order.

(13) The boilers will always be filled with fresh water when possible. When filled from overboard, the necessity for doing so from shallow water or using impure water of any kind should, as far as possible, be avoided.

(14) The water will be retained in the bɔilers without change as long as possible, even when the fires are not lighted. The boiler will be drained only when necessary for examination, cleaning, or repairs, and the water changed only when dirty or acid, or when the boiler is to be used for distilling without the aid of an evaporator.

(15) The boilers shall not be used for trimming ship nor for water tanks for any purpose except for a reserve of fresh water when steaming in free route. Salt water shall never be introduced into the boilers except for the purpose of washing out the interiors or to make up a deficiency of feed when steaming, when the supply of fresh water is not sufficient, or as permitted in paragraph 8 of this article. When the interior of a boiler has been washed out with

salt water it shall be filled with fresh water immediately thereafter, or if fresh water is unobtainable, with salt water.

(16) The exteriors are to be kept as dry as possible and nothing wet or combustible is to be stowed over or around them. The bilges in the fire rooms are to be kept dry and well painted.

(17) Sudden changes of temperature in the boilers are to be avoided; and when circumstances will permit, at least six hours should be occupied in raising steam from cold water.

(18) Connection doors must not be used as dampers.

(19) The uptakes shall be kept free from dirt and well painted. (20) The number of hours each boiler has had fires under it since the ship was commissioned is to be stated in each quarterly report. (21) Fires shall not be hauled after discontinuing steaming, except in case of emergency, but shall be allowed to burn down and die out in the furnaces, with the dampers, furnaces, and ash pits closed. The boilers shall not be blown down; when it is required to empty them, the water shall be pumped out.

(22) When coil, pipe, or water-tube boilers are not in use for steaming purposes, their interiors shall, if possible, be kept perfectly dry; their exteriors shall also be kept dry and, where accessible, well painted with metallic paint.

(23) If for any cause, such as a leaky valve, it is impossible to keep the interiors of coil, pipe, or water-tube boilers perfectly dry when not in use for steaming purposes, boilers of this class shall, till such cause can be removed, or the boilers are required for steaming purposes, be kept filled to their highest point with fresh water made slightly alkaline.

(24) Light fires shall occasionally be made in drying stoves placed in the ash pits of coil, pipe, or water-tube boilers not in use, in order to dispel moisture.

(25) Coil, pipe, or water-tube boilers shall never be used as tanks or reservoirs for any purpose whatever.

(26) Forced draft shall not be used on cylindrical fire-tube boilers except in emergencies and during the power trials specified in article 1603.

(27) When it is necessary to increase the speed of a vessel having cylindrical fire-tube boilers, it shall be done (except in case of emergency) by increasing the number of boilers in use, under natural draft, until the entire number on board are in use, if requisite.

(28) The blowers may be run at any time at moderate speed, for purposes of ventilation or to assist the draft, but the air pressure must not exceed one-half inch of water.

(29) The temperature of the feed water at the feed pumps will be as nearly as possible that of the water in the boilers. Where no special heaters are fitted, the temperature will be as high as is consistent with the maintenance of a fair vacuum.

(30) The air space between the uptake and casings of the boilers shall be examined frequently, and any accumulation of soot or coal dust prevented.

(31) As in ordinary cruising it is usually necessary to use only part of the boilers, the work will be distributed equally among the different boilers. If any peculiarity of fitting or other cause prevents this distribution, the fact must be stated in the quarterly report of the log.

(32) When it is necessary to keep ashes in the fire rooms until a lighter can be obtained, they must not be stowed against any part of the boilers or bulkheads; boards or heavy canvas must be used to protect the metal surfaces.

(33) Coal must not be stowed in the fire rooms in such quantities as to cover up the handles or wheels of valves, or to get into the bilges, thus choking up suctions and strainers and endangering the safety of the ship.

(34) The thin sheet-iron bulkheads or air ducts of the forced-draft system must be kept free from ashes and rust and well painted.

1610. (1) In order to determine the condition of the water in the boilers as regards its acidity, neutrality, or alkalinity, the water in each boiler will be tested with both kinds of litmus paper at least once per day when they are under steam, and once per week when the fires are not lighted.

(2) If the water in the boilers, on applying litmus paper, be in an acid condition, a small quantity of soda will be put into the condensers or hot wells, from which it will be pumped into the boilers with the feed water. If the water in any one boiler shows acid properties, a solution of soda will be injected into that boiler. Only the smallest quantity of soda possible to accomplish the purpose intended shall be used.

1611. Heavy banked fires should never be kept except in cases of emergency, but when so banked ash-pan doors shall not be put in place.

1612. (1) The boilers of all vessels in commission shall be tested by water pressure at such times as the senior engineer officer may deem necessary or advisable.

(2) The test-water pressure applied to boilers shall not exceed the designed working pressure plus twenty-five per cent of same when the boilers have been in service longer than two years.

(3) During the application of water pressure the boilers will be carefully examined and proper gauges used to detect any change in the form of any of their parts.

(4) In applying water pressure care must be taken that there is no leak past the main or auxiliary stop valves.

(5) Should a drill test (art. 1615) be made and reveal unusual thinness of any plates, the water pressure will be very carefully applied, in order that injury may not be caused by overpressure.

1613. The following particulars of the results of boiler tests will be entered in the steam log and the senior engineer officer's remark book: The greatest pressure applied; the load per square inch on safety valves previous to the test and when boilers were first used; the date of last repair; the length of service for which the boilers were repaired; the effect of the test on the plates and stays of furnaces, combustion chambers, and shell, and on the tube sheets; the estimated durability of the boilers with such repairs as can be made by the force on board; and such additional information as may be considered necessary to enable a more complete estimate to be formed of the condition of the boilers.

1614. (1) The boilers will be thoroughly examined at regular intervals of about three months; other examinations being made as opportunity offers and as the senior engineer officer may consider necessary. A detailed description of the condition of each boiler at each of these examinations shall be entered in the steam log and the senior engineer officer's remark book.

(2) If anything should occur to prevent these periodical examinations, the cause will be fully stated in the steam log.

1615. When, during the periodical examinations of boilers, the senior engineer has reason to believe that any part or parts of the

1

boiler are unduly worn or corr ed, he will cause these parts to be tested by drilling, the holes to be not over one-half inch in diameter. The thickness of the plates originally and when drill-tested, the probable cause of corrosion or wear, and all other details of the test will be entered in the steam log and senior engineer officer's remark book. 1616. Full information will be noted in the steam log of the kind, quality, steaming power, and other particulars of the coal garding coal. received. The statement that the coal is bituminous or anthracite being indefinite, will not be used except when it is impossible to obtain any further information of the coal received, in which case a special note of the fact will be entered in the steam log.

1617. (1) All paint work about the engineer department shall, if practicable, be white.

(2) Should red lead be used at any time for painting the double bottoms or other confined spaces in the engineer department, the senior engineer officer will see that proper precautions are taken to prevent its injurious effects on the health of the men. Two days is the maximum length of time that a man should be kept at this work.

1618. Cotton waste or any other materials used for wiping, and which are saturated with oil, will be destroyed immediately after using, or, if intended for starting fires, will be put in a covered iron receptacle, and the latter kept in a safe place.

1619. (1) All chocks and ties fitted to cylinders, boilers, and other parts of the machinery, to prevent their shifting from the effects of collision, will be kept at all times in an efficient condition, and they will be examined at least once each quarter and their condition noted in the steam log.

(2) Before going into action, all articles which might be thrown down or displaced by a collision will be secured, or so disposed that no injury can be done to the machinery or to the officers and men in the engineer department.

(3) When it is intended to ram, or when the vessel is likely to be rammed, notice will be given from deck to the engineer officer of the watch, through the speaking tube or by other prompt method of signaling, so that men, tools, etc., may not be thrown down or against moving parts of the machinery.

(4) To prevent the passage of water from the boilers into the engines when the collision takes place, the separator will be emptied and its blow-off cock opened to the sea just before the shock is expected to take place. This cock may also be allowed to remain open until the engines are safely reversed.

(5) A man will be stationed at each of the main stop valves to shut off any or all of the boilers should it become necessary, and in order to facilitate this, the valves will be screwed down as far as possible without reducing the steam required by the engines.

(6) In ramming, being rammed, and generally in cases of collision, the men should go to their stations for starting all bilge pumps, bilge injectors, and other means provided for freeing the ship of water in case of dangerous leakage.

1620. (1) The preceding instructions for the management, care, and preservation of the machinery of the vessel will, as far as applicable, govern the management, care, and preservation of the machinery of the steamboats.

Particulars re

Painting.

Cotton waste.

Ramming.

Steamboats.