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42 (2a ——— ns aa THE MARINE RECORD. FEBRUARY I5, 1900. 2, Chicago autical School 1513 Masonic Temple, CHICAGO. z W. J. WILSON, (ate Lieutenant U. S. Navy), Principal. A full and complete course of instruction in lake and ocean navigation. Also special branches taught those desiring to qualify themselves for better positions in the marine service. $200 in prizes (Great Lakes Regis- ter) awarded annually to students. Students taught by correspondence. Students may begin at any time. Send for circular. 5S OF THE WORK OF A CARELESS ENGINEER. On December 11th, 1899, the U.S. Local Inspectors of Steam Vessels in New York investigated the burning of a water tube boiler on the tug William H. Beard September 13th, 1899. This is a small tug of 28.49 gross tons, employed by the W. H. Beard Dredging Co. in towing their mud scows. She was supplied with a Boyer patent sectional water tube boiler hi pk in the spring of 1898, which continuously gave satisfaction. Soft coal was the fuel used. : } \ The testimony shows that on the night of the 12th the oe permanent engineer, Mr. Stiglin, closed the con- nections between the gauge glass and boiler, as ~ was his custom. That on the morning of 13th, he was sick and employed Engineer * * * * to take his place for the day. That shortly before 7 o’clock on the morning of Sept. 13th, 1899, the tug left her berth for the day’s work and had several tows. That while towing a largé loaded scow against the tide, the accident occurred, shortly before 1 o’clock. The day after the accident, the gauge glass was _ noticed with three or four inches of water and the boiler connections closed. The witnesses describe the various points as follows; Engineer H. Steglin—The boiler was supplied with water by force pumps attached to the engine and an injector. The force pumps were sufficient to supply the boiier at all times except when the tug’s engine was at rest, when the injector was used. The engine never lifted the water except when first starting out in the morn- ing, at which time the gauge glass was full and above the upper gauge cock. I was with En- gineer * * * * until nearly 7 o’clock, when I went home and to bed. ‘ Engineer * * * *—Wewere towing a large loaded scow against the tide with the steam at 140lbs, I opened the cock of the air chamber; the check was working all the time. After blowing off the air chamber cock, my steam began to come down. The connection with the tank was open and _ the check was cold. I jumped down into the fireroom, put _ on fresh coal and put the exhaust into the stack. Thesteam _ was then at 110 and a pretty fire. The pump check was working all the time. The tug began to plunge heavily, _ caused by the swell from some passing steamer. I received a signal to slow and tried to work the injector; it would not _ force the water into the boiler. I immediately drew the fires _ and had drawn several hoes full, when I noticed something was dropping down. There was no hissing or blowing of water or steam. ; _ Superintendent W. H. Arnold, of the W. H. Beard Dredg- ‘ing Co., says—I was notified and. reached the tug an hour ind a quarter noe the accident. I went below at once and found the greater portion of the boiler melted down on the Pintsch Gas Lighted Buoys. Adopted by the English, German, French, Russian, Italian, and United States Light-House Departments for channel and harbor lighting. Over 800 gas buoys and gas beacons in service. Controlled by grate bars. It was so hot that I could hardly stay in the fire-room; it was still red-hot. I have often examined the boiler and found the tubes above the fire in fairly good con- dition, being probably one-quarter of an inch off the hori- zontal. I have never received any report from the engineer that the feed pumps did not work properly or that the water was not freely supplied, even when I asked him. Mr. James Kaine, of Ll. Boyer’s Sons, says—I visited the Beard on the morning after the accident, accompanied by Messrs. Munkenbeck and F. W. Boyer. -I noticed that there was between three and four inches of water in the gauge glass, and trying the connections to the boiler, found them closed. I called the attention of Messrs. Munkenbeck and Boyer to this. Mr. Munkenbeck verified this statement. The testimony of Messrs. Kaine and Munkenbeck was directly opposite to that of the engineers, who both claimed that they tried the connections and that they were open. The local inspectors evidently accepted the version of Messrs. Kaine and Munkenbeck, as their report indicates: STEAM VESSEL INSPECTION SERVICE, OFFICE OF LOCAL, INSPECTORS. NEw YORK, December 29, 1899. GEORGE H. STARBUCK, ESoQ., ; Supervising Inspector, Second District, New York, N. Y. SIR:—We have the honor to report that this Board held an investigation at this office on December 11th, 1899, in the matter of the burning of the pipe boiler on the tug Wm. H. Beard on the 13th day of September, 1899. We have carefully read over the evidence in this case and are of the opinion that the engineer * * * * was to blame ‘for the burning of said boiler, and we therefore reduce his grade of license from assistant engineer in charge of condens- ing tug and freight steamers of 75 gross tons to that of ‘‘an assistant engineer,’? as per authority conferred on us by Section 441 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. Respectfully yours, THOMAS H. BARRETT, _ PETER C. PETRIE, Local Inspectors, [SIGNED ] An examination of the melted boiler shows that the tubes are free and the circulation not impeded, that the tubes on the inside and on the outside are coated with black oxide of iron, and that the greatest heat was amongst the tubes. Also, of the 785 evaporating tubes, over 300 were melted. Black oxide of iron has the appearance of plumbago and is made by passing of oxygen gas over red-hot iron. From the condition of the boiler and the above evidence, the following conclusions are inevitable: First—That by reasons of the connections between the boiler and the gauge glass being closed, the engineer did not know where his water level was, and that it had been materially lowered during the hour and one-half while lying Ps Burn Gives instructions in Ocean Continuously Navigation and prepares from 80 to 365 days and nights without atten- tion, and can be seen a distance of six miles. THE SAFETY GAR HEATING AND LIGHTING Co. 160 Broadway, New York City. Capt. Samuel W. Gould, 265 MARCY AVE., CLEVELAND. candidates for the examina- tions for Master and Pilots’ Licenses, before the Local Steamboat Inspectors. 3% = TAKE Wade Park or Payne Ave. Car. still before towing the large scow; also, that the towing of the big loaded scow against the tide was hard work for the little boat, and that there was an unusual consumption of water. Thus the upper evaporating tubes became empty of water, and when the exhaust was put into the stack, they became superheated and then red-hot, at which time the steam was decomposed into oxygen and hydrogen gases. These gases were released by a split in some of the pipes; part of the oxygen combined with the iron formed black oxide of iron, leaving the hydrogen and balance of the oxygen to again combine with different chemical proportions, and thus with the aid of the fire produce the ter- rific heat that melted the boilertubes. This was further aided by the air that passed over the fire, the boiler doors being open at the time, and the engineer engaged in hauling the fire. That the heat amongst the tubes must have been terrific, is proved by the fact that they were of wrought iron, a substance almost impossible to bring toa liquid state, and further that, one hour and a uarter after the accident, the fireroom was so hot that Supt. Arnold could hardly stay there. Second—That if this carelessness had hap- pened to any shell boiler or water tube boiler, wherein the steam drain was‘accessible to the fire, or the evaporating tubes of large diameter, there would have been the releasing of immense quantities of the gases, resulting in a great ex- plosion, with loss of life and property. Third—That the Boyer Patent Sectional Water Tube Boiler can be subjected to this . abuse and limits its owner’s loss only to the repair of the boiler, should make it a favorite _ with all owners, engineers and firemen. Notre.—The first of the accompanying prints shows that the damage was confined entirely to the nest of tubes; the second shows the hole melted into the tubes; and the third a closer view of the melting. oO oo A COMPILATION of the wreck statistics for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1899, shows that New England suffered as never before. The states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts in that period lost one hundred and sixty-two vessels, valued, with their cargoes, at nearly two million dol- lars, while three hundred and twenty-five persons perished. It was the most destructive year in the history of this coast. The greatest losses were in the great gale of November 27, 1898, when many wrecks occurred. The great majority of them were between Vineyard Haven and Highland Light, Cape Cod. Inthat gale the steamer Portland went down with all hands—one hundred and twenty-nine persons, pas- sengers and crew. Between Juneand December, 1899, forty- nine more ships, barks and schooners were wrecked, mak- ing a total loss for the year anda half of 215 vessels. It is this unprecedented loss, and the consequent scarcity of vessels, which has had a great deal to do with sending coal freight from ninety cents to two dollars a ton.