Shipbuilding. The opening meeting of the Society after the The great difference in the stage of the River between high ling factor in any of the schemes which have been proposed for this purpose. Whether the ways upon which the vessel is built are arranged for stern-first or for sideways launching the difficulties in the way of providing ways of sufficient length to take care of the great variation in the stages of the river are practically prohibitive. Mr. French draws the conclusion that the only practical method of building ships on the Mississippi is to use a locked canal, which would necessitate, of course, the sideways method of launching. A further point in connection with the building of large ships in this part of the country is that it is necessary to be able to build the heavier items of equipment, such as boilers and engines, in or near the ship-yard, thus avoiding the difficulties and expense of shipping these items from one part of the country to the other. While there are a number of shops in this vicinity which are able to undertake the manufacture of fire tube marine boilers, it is doubtful whether the larger sizes of marine engines can be economically constructed here. The labor situation also has its problems due to the fact that most of the skilled labor for ship-building is in the North and the demand for it there is so great that it would be difficult to offer inducements to have the men change their locations. In his discussion of the paper, Mr. Warren Johnson, who has had a great deal of experience in ship building in New Orleans, reaches the conclusion that the encouragement of large shipbuilding on the Mississippi River would result in commercial disaster, and prove an injury rather than a credit to this community," Rice Irrigation. For a number of years the rice industry in Southwest Louisiana has been facing the serious problem of securing economically a sufficient supply of fresh water for the purpose of irrigating the fields. Elsewhere in this issue of the Proceedings is published a paper by Mr. Welman Bradford of Alexandria, setting forth the advantages of a scheme proposed by him for accomplishing economically the desired end. Mr. Bradford calls his scheme the "Gravity System of Irrigation”’ from the fact that the water used is brought to the reservoirs, delivered to the rice fields and there distributed entirely by gravity without the assistance of any pumping operations at all. As applied to Southwest Louisiana the principal source of supply of the fresh water will be the Red River, which is to be connected with certain reservoirs, located at or near the edge of the prairie region and having sufficient elevation to permit of delivering the impounded waters to all parts of this region by main canals and laterals. The irrigation of the rice field itself is carried out by means of the "alternate system" with shallow contours or ridges to hold the water on the field. The main feature of the alternate system consists in flooding each contour for a period of ten days and then draining the water off to the next contour below, the rice being thus supplied with fresh water at intervals. Mr. Bradford was called by the Brazilian Government in 1906 to apply his methods to the development of the rice industry of that country with the result that in a period of five years, from 1906 to 1911, the balance of trade in that staple was changed from an importation of 22,000 tons to an exportation. of 8,000 tons. The same methods have also been applied with great success in Italy. Incidental to the plan as applied specially to rice irrigation it is pointed out that the main canal from the Red River will also be available for navigation, and that the surplus waters impounded in the reservoirs may be used for the development of power. The claim is made that there will thus be rendered available sufficient water with the necessary head for the development by hydro-electric means of 50,000 horse-power, with the further claim that this power could be delivered in New Orleans at half the cost of generation in the city as at present. An engineer, who was not present at the meeting, made the remark afterwards that one doubt in his mind as to the practical working of this scheme would be the trouble encountered from sedimentation in the main canal due to the large amount of silt carried by the waters of the Red River. This point was not touched upon in the discussion, and it might be of interest to have Mr. Bradford give a further statement covering that ques In fact, we take this opportunity to remind our members that these published papers are always open for discussion in the columns of this journal. The Pitot Tube. We are in receipt of a very interesting little pamphlet recently published by the firm of A. M. Lockett & Co., of this city and Houston. The pamphlet is well illustrated with half tone cuts showing the different forms of tube manufactured by the company with instructions for their application. and use. References to the technical literature on the subject of the Pitot Tube are given, and there is appended a table of "Constants for Locating Stations for a 10-Point Traverse", as well as a "Head-Velocity Table for the Pitot Tube." A. M. Lockett & Co. will be glad to send a copy of the pamphlet to any engineer who may be interested in the subject. Our Military Members. The following list of names of men who are serving their country directly in either the military or the naval branch has been compiled by the Secretary and the Editor from such information as they had available. It is probably incomplete, both as to the number of men included as well as to their respective offices and locations. We should like to have it is complete as possible and would welcome, therefore, any information from our members to make it so. Please communicate same to the Secretary or to the Editor of the Proceedings. Bate, H. H. Second Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R. First Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R. Coleman, E. H. Captain of Engineers, U. S. R., Camp Pike. Commagere, J. A., Jr. At Second Training Camp. Creighton, W. H. P. U. S. Navy. Bres, E. W. Wis. Diettel, A. A. Fortier, L. J. First Lieutenant, 17th Field Artillery, Sparta, Garsaud, Marcel. Major of Engineers, U. S. R., Camp Pike. Gregory, W. B. Major of Engineers, U. S. R. American Expeditionary Force in France. Grehan, B. H. Second Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R.. Camp Pike. Gwinn, J. M., Jr. U. S. Aviation Corps, Mineola, L. I. Hawkins, E. C. Hornot, E. M. Ensign U. S. Navy, N. O. Naval Station. First Lieutenant U. S. R., Camp Pike. O'Brien, J. A. Second Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R. In France. Shaw, A. M. Major of Engineers, U. S. R. Chief Construct ing Quartermaster at Camp Beauregard, La. Silsbee, J. A. First Lieutenant Sanitary Co. No. 1. Camp Greenleaf, M. O. T. C., Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Sprague, F. E. Second Lieutenant, Ordnance Department. Second Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R. Second Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. R. Stem, C. H. Wilson, V. Second Lieutenant, Coast Artillery, Fort Bar rancas. OBITUARY Reinier Swart, non-resident member of this society, died at his home in Baton Rouge, August 16, 1917, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was born in Amsterdam, Holland, the son of prominent Dutch parents, in the year 1845. He came to this country when quite a young man and took up the study and practice of Civil Engineering, finally locating in the city of Baton Rouge. In 1884 he was married to Miss Louise Geselly of Baton Rouge, four children being born of this union. They are Reinier Swart, Jr., Civil Engineer, located at Warren, Arizona; W. Swart of Baton Rouge, Mrs. H. V. Collins and N. Swart of Baton Rouge. Mr. Swart was a member of the Knights of Pythias. For many years he was City Engineer of Baton Rouge, and was engaged in the active practice of his profession until quite recent years, when he was forced to retire on account of failing health. He became a member of the Louisiana Engineering Society in 1898, and continued his connection therewith until the time of his death. Foster Olroyd, resident member of this Society, died at his home in New Orleans, October 8, 1917, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Olroyd was born in this city September 20, 1861, |