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MARINE REVIEW. 1H Another Chapter on the Belleville Boiler. (Continued from Vol. IX, No. T4.) "Cleaning the boilers and inspection of the boiler appliances after thirty days steaming.--From March 18 to April 22, 1889, the steamer for the most part was lying in the ports of South America, as the passage be- tween ports occupied only seven days, and only six boilers were employed. During the thirty-four days of the vessel's stay off the South American coast, the cleaning of the eight boilers was gradually carried out, and a portion only of the boiler appliances were overhauled,as on account of the Ilmited number of engine-room hands, it was impossible to inspect all ap- pliances. In each of the boilers the separator and the four lower rows of tubes were cleaned and all deposit removed. The five upper rows of tubes are cleaned with scrapers only once a year, i. e., after 180 or 200 days steaming. The deposit is usually from 1 to 3 mm. thick. 'The thicker de- posit was found on the two lower rows of tubes, and principally in the central sections of the boilers. When three stokers were employed for nine hours a day, three days were required for cleaning, washing out, put- ting together again, and testing the boilers with hydraulic pressure, with the view of seeing thatithe ends of the tubes were satisfactorily set up. In cleaning the boilers it was clearly apparent in all, that the tubes of the lower rows were bent, and that this was especially the case with the cen- tral sections. This bending constantly increases with the period of ser- vice of the boilers. In one of the boilers the bending of two of the tubes was considerable, and accordingly they wer- replaced by spare ones. In removing these tubes their washers and rings had to be cut out. After they had been taken out the amount of their curvature was measured, and _ in one case it was found to be 1 inch, in the other 5¢ inch. In all the boilers the above curvature of the tubes is found to be in one and the same direction; that is to say, the convex surface of the tube is always downward towards the grates. All the zinc plates were renewed, and this takes place approximately after every twenty-five to thirty days' steaming. "The automatic water-guage cock of the separator, during the trip from Bordeaux to Buenos Ayres, allowed the water to'rise 5 inches beyond the middle of the water guage. On taking the apparatus apait it was found that the float was partially filled with water, in consequence of the passage of steam into the junction of the float with the upright stem, which latter is screwed into the float. After the water had been removed from the float and the upright stem firmly fixed by means of a new washer placed under the shoulder of the stem, the automatic water gauge cock was put together, and it acted without further failure in the subse- quent runs. "The automatic feed apparatus was not inspected, it having worked accurately during the run from Bordeaux to South America. As a general rule, on board the steamer, it was laid down that the tubes of the conden- ser were to be looked to as frequently as possible, with the view to avert- ing the possibility of any leakage. An inspection of the tubes is, more- over, compulsory on the arrival of the steamer in South America, and on her return to Bordeaux, i. e., approximately after thirty days' steaming. "On weighing anchor at Las Palmas, in the Canary islands, a leak of water and steam into the furnace of the port forward boiler was observed; accordingly this boiler was disconnected from the others, and steam was lowered in it. On the next day, in order. to fix the position of the leak, this boiler was filled with water, when the leak was found to be from the fourth section (reckoning from forward), so that this section was removed from the boiler. On inspection it was found tkat the uppermost tube had on its lower surface a hole 6% inches long and % inch wide, and it was determined to replace this tube witha spare one. In order to remove the tube from the section, both the riny of this tube and the tube itself were cut off near the after uniting box, the short portion of the tube which re- mained screwed into the plate was then cut off, and so, having flattened the portion of the tube which was cut off, it was screwed out of the box. After the worn out tube had been replaced by a spare one, steam was got up in this boiler and it continued to work successfully with the others. Two working days were required for shifting the worn out tube. According to the statements of the commander and chief engineer of the vessel, who had served on her since she began her career, this eating away of the tube now occurred for the first time, that is at the commence- ment of the fifth year of the vesel's service. On a careful examination of the tube which had been eaten away, it was found that this action had al- ready commenced in another place in this tube, also on the lower portion of its interior surface, and in ashort time a hole similar to that already discovered would have been formed. "In spite of feeding of the boilers with distilled water, and of the great care taken of the condensers, the saturation of the water reached 3 degrees, and recourse had to be had to the surface blows a short time to maintain the saturation at 2 to 3 degrees. The bottom blows were used twice every twenty-four hours. At each blow-off the cock was rapidly opened and closed twice, and this was quite sufficient for the removal of the sediment which had accumulated in the lower part of the ejector. Efforts were made to keep the boiler pressure at 120 pounds, which was effected when Cardiff coal was used. With other kinds of coal the pressure varied from 75 to 100 pounds per square inch. When the tubes were being cleaned by steam and also when the fires were being cleaned, the steam pressure, with bad coal, fell to 52 pounds. The quantity of water required for making good the waste of water in the boilers varied from 2 to 3 tons per twenty-four hours. An expenditure of 4 tons was required towards the end of the voyage due to increased loss by leakage through the stuff- _ ing boxes. "Expenditure of coal.--Three different kinds of coal were used or tried, viz.: 1. Cardiff of the ordinary quality found in the trade. 2. Coal sold as Cardiff, and similar to it in appearance, but actually, as was found on burning it, something between Cardiff and Newcastle. 3. Cheap bri- quettes (15 francs a ton), which were obtained at Dunkirk. In order to attain the ordinary twenty-four hours' run of 250 miles, the engines must make about sixty-eight revolutions and develop about 1,160 I. H, P,, and under these conditions, using seven boilers, the area of grate surface of which was 158 square feet, the mean daily expenditure of coal was: For Cardiff of ordinary quality, 34.4 tons, which makes 2.7 pounds Pet olepeleeks per hour, and gives a consumption of 19.8 pounds per hour per square foot of grate surface; for coal sold as Cardiff, 37.4 tons, or 2.98 pounds per I.H.P. per hour, and 22 pounds per square foot of grate per hour; for the cheap briquettes, 41.3 tons, or 3.3 pounds per I.H.P. per hour, and 24.4 pounds per square foot of grate surface. Experience showed that Belle- ville's patent iron corrugated grates are not practical, because of their fre- quent warping and bending, and accordingly they have been replaced by the ordinary cast iron bars, of which a considarable reserve is kept on board. a2 "The Belleville boilers, while not working, are kept filled with water, and in order to lower the water to the working level or to empty the boilers, there are valves on the forward ends of the blowing off pipes, which.are situated in the hold. The water is passed into the hold through the e pipes. On the Ortegal there are spare sections for two boilers, and spare boiler appliances as well. In addition to this there are several spare boiler tubes with their uniting boxes. Generally there is a reserve supply of 25 per cent. of all boiler fittings, not excluding the movable parts of the Belleville donkeys. Although it is possible to get up steam in half an hour, more time was always allowed and steam was ordinarily got up in two hours, Although M. Belleville proposes to blow off his boilers imme- diately the fire has been raked out of the furnaces, and to refiil them im- mediately with water, this practice was never followed on board the Orte- gal, and usually, in changing the water in the boilers, it was allowed to cool and then passed into the hold. The engineers of the Oriegal find that when steam is got up rapidly, or when the water is rapidly renewed in the boilers, the bending of the tubes, which occurs at all times, is much more considerable, and a leak would probably occur in the joints of the tubes. On return of the vessel to Bordeaux the interior surfaces of the tubes of the starboard forward boiler were tested by sounding, and it was found that there were fifteen tubes in the walls of which erosion had commenced. In the four lower rows of tubes, however, no erosion of the walls was dis- covered. As the boiler was selected at haphazard, and as all the boilers had been subjected to the same conditions during this four years' service, - we may suppose that in all the boilers there was similar erosion of the tubes. Conneaut Car Ferries. Samuel B. Dick of Meadville, Pa., president of the Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad Company, says in answer to a letter of inquiry from the REVIEW about the proposed car ferry service of his company on Lake Erie: "It is our expectation and intention to build one or two boats in the near future, to be operated as car ferries between Conneaut, O., and Port Dover, Can., but we do not anticipate having them ready before fall. The expectation is to build boats that will cross a greater portion of the year carrying from twenty to twenty-six 30-ton cars to the trip. After we have perfected our organization and accepted the plans we will be glad t furnish you any further information on the subject." y From the last sentence in this letter it would seem that anew company is to be formed to take up the ferry business. The dock company at Con- neaut, in which stockholders of the American Steel Barge Company are in- terested, is also a corporation separate from the railway company. A fair share of Lake Erie business in coal and iron ore went to Conneaut last season. The dock company is now adding to its facilities for handling coal and ore, and an appropriation in the river and harbor bill more liberal than that accorded to other Lake Erie ports will help to improve the harbor. Altogether the promoters of this enterprise at Conneaut seem to be pro- ceeding in a substantial way, and in contemplating the construction of car ferries they very probably have a profitable business in view. Patronize the through car service via the Nickel Plate road to Chicago, New York and Boston. Apl 30 Buffet sleeping cars are used in the through service over the Nickel Plate road between Chicago, New York and Boston. Apl 30