The Bayerischen Revisions Verein (the Bavarian Steam Users' Association), in its technical reports for 1907, states: -

"Taken all in all, there are in Germany for the present a few firms only which offer guaranty enough for the safety of welding applied to repairs on steam boilers and steam vessels, and these firms seem especially to carry out repairs on marine boilers.

"Unfortunately, the number of persons, without necessary knowledge and experience, or suitable appliances, and more particularly without the properly trained staff of workmen, which offer to carry out the difficult repairs on steam boilers is very great indeed, and their great anxiety to obtain such jobs stands in reverse proportion to their ability.

"In our opinion, the autogenous welder must, in his profession as such, stand authoritatively independent and he must also be a boiler maker, otherwise his care for our steam boilers would offer a danger which cannot be over-estimated. This is applicable to all times, even if the best results should be obtained by a skilful application of autogenous welding to steam boilers.

"We must therefore advise our members, at least for the present, to refrain from the adoption of new methods, and rather retain the old and safe methods; and, besides, not to permit any welding to be done in cases where extension and bending are points of importance, or, at least, to entrust the welding to such firms only which possess not only great experience in such work but also are boiler makers.

"But the advice to adopt the position of waiting until experience and tests have given satisfactory results must not be taken as a condemnation of autogenous welding. On the contrary, the indisputable great advantages offered by this system can only be in the interest of industry as soon as satisfactory tests will admit its adaptability, especially to repairs on steam boilers."

The Bayerischen Revisions-Verein (the Bavarian Steam-Users' Association) has recently sent to the inspectors of their Steam Boilers Control Associations the following circular, which reads, in translation, as follows: -

"1. The owners of steam boilers are advised to discourage the application of welding on repairs of such surfaces which are exposed, during work, to stretching and bending; and also

"2. To refrain from engaging for welding repairs any firm which by their installations or knowledge does not give guaranty as to being able to carry out such tasks, which are often of a very difficult nature, and for such purpose to consider only such firms which are known to be professionally and thoroughly conversant with repairs in steam boilers.

"3. When the repair by welding is not limited to small spaces or grate-bars, a district water pressure test must always be made in accordance with the stipulations in reference to such pressure tests, and the weld should be hammered during such test being made.

"The same is applicable to approbation tests and wholly or partly new steam boilers or vessels which have been finished by welding. The weld must always be inspected before and after the pressure test, even on the water side.

"4. On this occasion it is also advisable to arrange so that the weld may be made accessible for inspection, even during the work.

"5. In the event of an inspection during the working being impossible, the boiler must then, within three months, or in the other case, within six months at the most from the date of repair, be subjected to an interior inspection, when the weld must be thoroughly inspected on the water as well as on the inner surface; the interior test must, if necessary, be done by water pressure.

"If the weld is thus found to be perfect, further interior inspection of Associations' boilers is postponed for one year (instead of two years).

"Applications for alterations of the time of inspection may be filed and addressed to the respective officers of the Official Control of Boilers, and reports of all such inspections and pressure tests must be filed with the Board.

"6. All the inspection members must make inquiries in every case as to which firms carry out welding repairs on steam boilers and steam vessels, where and on which boiler, etc., such repair has been done. Such boilers must as soon as possible be scheduled and inquiries made as to the reason of and in what way such repairs were made, and, if possible, an inspection of the weld should be made at the same time, eventually by the water-pressure test."

Dr. Hilpert, in No. 10, dated 31st May, 1908, of the Zeits-chrift des Bayerischen Revisions Vereins, page 107, publishes copies of the following three letters: -

1. Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes, No. 169.

"In reply to your letter of 31st October, N. 408, A. D. 14, I am glad to inform you that the numerous repairs on several of our boilers carried out by you by means of your welding system have given me full satisfaction.

"Welding has been done on cracks, and pieces have been welded to tube-walls in order to fill out flange joints which had been damaged by corrosion.

"None of these repairs has up to now given any reason of complaint.

"Yours,

"La Aotat, "The Director of Works,

"5 November, 1907." (Signed) "Raymond."

2. General Direction, "Veritas" Paris.

"The undersigned, Jacques Elie Boissevain, inspector of 'Veritas' Bureau in Marseilles, certifies hereby, by order of the general direction of 'Veritas,' in accordance with letter of 7th August, 1907, that the numerous repairs on ships or ship boilers, which have been carried out by the Societe de l'Acetylene-Dissous de Sud-Est in Marseilles, under the supervision of our engineers at our Marseilles Bureau ' Veritas,' have given us full satisfaction, and that, accordingly, the Board has authorised the said company to carry out such repairs on all ships controlled by ' Veritas' in any country.

"The Inspector of the Veritas Bureau " Marseilles, in Marseilles,

" 9th August, 1907. " (Signed) "Boissevain."

3. Belgian Steam Users' Association.

"Hereby I inform you that my firm has been authorised to use the following words added to the heading of our notepaper :

"' Travaux executes avec l'autorisation et sans la surveillance de l'association pour la surveillance des chaudieres a vapeur.'

"Antwerp, (Signed) " Champy Freres."

"28th April, 1908."

The Manchester Steam. Users' Association, in a letter of 24th August, 1908, addressed to the Author, their Chief Engineer, Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, says : -

"I have absolutely no experience as regards modern welding practices in boilers. The old methods are barbarous, and are sanctioned only for plates which are in compression, and I should be delighted if welds could now be made reliable enough for parts subjected to tension or bending, but you must not forget that the personal element enters into the question, and that one will rather be satisfied with a 75 per cent. riveted joint, of which one can see the details, than with a weld which may be no weld."

International Association of Steam Users. The number of 3rd October, 1908, of the Gewerbeblatt aus Wurtemberg states :

At the annual Congress at Dantzig, 1907, of Delegates and Engineers of the International Association of Steam Users, embodying, amongst other countries, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, it was resolved that a sum of 2,000 marks should be voted for testing repairs by autogenous welding upon steam boilers. • The technical committee of the Association stipulated accordingly that samples of such parts, which had become defective in steam boilers, as well as of their repairs by autogenous welding, should be sent to the testing institution of the Royal High Technical College, Stuttgart, which had been instructed to carry out said tests.

At the annual Congress at Wiesbaden, on the 8th and 9th September, 1908, of the International Association, the report of such tests was presented, and, after discussion, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: -

"In reference to repairs on steam boilers and steam vessels by autogenous welding it is advisable that the greatest care should be exercised, and that such repairs should only be entrusted to reliable firms, and under supervision of the respective local inspectors of the Association. Special attention should be given to such parts which are subjected to tension and bending, and which are, by heating of the surrounding parts of the weld and the contraction of the filling welding material (without subsequent annealing), subjected to tensions which may cause accidents of more or less severe nature.

"Seams which are exposed to the influence of changeable temperatures which may greatly affect tension and bending shall only be welded and permitted to be exposed to said influences when the seam, after having been welded, is subjected to annealing.

"The above resolution is left to the earnest consideration of all members of the Association."