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“DEVOTED 10 NAVIGATION, COMMERCE, ENGINEERING AND | SCIENCE. Sane ESTABLISHED 1878. oe _ PupiisHep Every THURSDAY BY THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO. Incorporated. PO eb Manager Wee Riess oes elise ce ee eee sesso + oluditor Capt. JoHN SWAINSON....-.--+-+++ Pale Nee f CLEVELAND, CHICAGO. Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. : SUBSCRIPTION. One copy, one vear, postage paid...... Bebe Suretern alert $2.00 : One copy, one year, to foreign GOUNtHICSY osicee eens < $3.00 Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should sie addressed to the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO. Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, O. Entered at sirened Postoffice as second-class mail matter. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, - but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. eee CLEVELAND, O., FEBRUARY 27, 1902. eben OF WATER TUBE BOILERS. However perfect we may now have got the water- tube m of steam generator, the broad fact remains that it dds little if anything to economy in the production of steam. We have still got to put something like 22,000,000 ot-pounds of potential energy, in the form of two pounds f coal, into the furnaces of our boilers, be they water-tube cylindrical, to get 33,000 foot-pounds of work out of Beyond a slight saving in floor space, a little economy in ht, and the advantage of rapid steam raising, the water- be boiler has done nothing to advance the economics of engineering. And it is doubtful whether the slight advantages just named are not more than eaten up, from a lonetary point of view, in the extra cost of upkeep of the ter-tube type. \nd the introduction of the type is not by any means of recent date as many engineers suppose, for as far back S 1774 one John Blakey constructed what may, perhaps, tly be considered the earliest type of water- tube boiler. is p imitive attempt lees of three water pipes, alter- es its way through the water contained in the bes of the boiler in order to supply the engine. ing over Voight and Fitch’s pipe boiler, which was ee steamboats on the. peware river is 7 d in 1792; Dale’s; in’ 3: Barlow & eens s hich was fitted to a boat'on the Seine in 1793; and s boiler, patented in. 1801, we come to Woolf's sec- oiler, which was. patented about 1803. Stevens, in ca, employed, so we are told in Mr. Leslie S. Robert- cellent book, “Water-tube Boilers,” from which we - quoting, a form of water-tube boiler which he fitted ew boat in 1804. This boiler contained 100 tubes eter, and 18 in. long plugged at one end, and cted at the other to a central water leg, the furnace g around and among the radiating tubes. <A ” boiler, the ae were closed at one THE MARINE RECORD. - FEBRUARY 27, 1902. by a very brief recapitulation of them, aided in some few instances by illustrations! But the early application of the water-tube boiler on board ship is a briefer story, and to this we prefer to turn. Undoubtedly: one of the earliest. seargoing steamers fitted with water-tube boilers was the Thetis, built in 1857 by Scott & Co., of Greenock, and fitted with a tubulous boiler by J. M. Rowan, of Glasgow. The vessel was an experimental one, and after a year’s trial her boilers gave trouble, the tubes ultimately failing through internal corro- sion. In 1859 J. M. Rowan and T. R. Horton brought out a “cellular” boiler, which was fitted in 1860 to the Athana- sian and some paddle steamers intended for river work in India. The boilers of the river steamers ran for ten or eleven years, and were then replaced by Rowan and Horton boilers of the Propontis type. The boilers of the Athanasian, however, had to be removed after being in use for nearly a year, owing largely to the corrosion of the tubes from the use of sea water, and were replaced by a water tube boiler, designed by Mr. James Howden, of Glasgow, who has done so much for the development of forced draft with heated air. In 1870 the Mare Antony and the Fairy Dell were fitted with tubulous boilers. ‘They made two or three voyages, but, ultimately, both ships were lost, owing to the failure of the boilers. But perhaps the most interesting application of tubulous boilers of this class in the early days was the case of the Propontis. . This ship was fitted with Rowan & Horton’s 1869 boiler, which is generally referred to as the Propontis- type boiler, though it was fitted to’ a steamer named. the Haco two years before. The first voyage of the Propontis was from Liverpool to the Black Sea and back. The boilers were fed with dis- tilled water, the working pressure being about 135 Ib. The tubes, however, pitted badly and were continually giving out. The story of the failure of these boilers is too well known to need repetition here. But the case of the Mon- tana and Dakota is, perhaps, not so well remembered, and may be worth recalling. These two Guion liners were fitted, in 1876, with water-tube boilers similar to the Perkins boiler. ‘Ihe Montana left the Tyne with eight boilers, but before she got to the Isle of Wight six of these had burst. She was towed into Plymouth, and, after repair, continued her journey to Liverpool. It was found during the voyage that the lower tubes contained steam only and not water. The Board of ‘Trade refused to certify the boilers, and a commission was appointed, in connection with the Admiralty officials, to test them‘on a six days’ trip on the Atlantic, but the results proved so unsatisfactory that they had to be taken out. We know that since then great progress has been. made withthe water-tube boiler, but,as we indicated at the opening, the man who pays the coal bill is still looking for the boiler which will give us 1 ih.p. at the engine for considerably less than two pounds of coal per hour in the boiler. “Ror naval purposes, we grant, the quick steam raiser is essential, and coal is one of the items in a warship’s cost which need not be considered. THE DIFFERENCE IN FOGS. The fog of London and the fog of the sea alike discom- pose traffic, and the omnibuses and the steamships alike have to lay in for safety. But while the London fog gets into your innermost room and baffles even the ‘electric light—though the candle comes out triumphant, curiously— the densest fog at sea does net disturb the saloon or the stateroom. Why is that? The word “fog” has not been traced back further than the sixteenth century—but the thing was known in the early, years of the fourteenth. The commons, with the prelates and nobles visiting London for the parliaments and on other occasions, united in petitioning Edward I. to compel the burning of only dry wood and charcoal, as the growing use of the sea coal corrupted the air with its stink and smoke, to the great prejudice and detriment of ‘health. In 1306 the king prohibited the use of coal. Heavy ransom and fines were inflicted for disobedience. In the case of recalcitrant brewers, dyers and other artificers, the furnaces and kilns were destroyed. But the restriction was evi- dently removed, for in 1309 $250—probably equal to about $4,000 now—was paid out of the exchequer for wood and coal for the coronation of Edward II. LOCAL AND ASSISTANT INSPECTOR OF HULLS StEAMBOAT INSPECTION SERVICE. The United States Civil Service Commission announces that the examination scheduled to be held on March 4-5, 1902, at the places mentioned in the accompanying list for . the position of local and assistant inspector of hulls in the + Steamboat-Inspection Service, has been postponed to ae 2-3, 1902. Geo The examination will consist of the subjects mentioned ie below, which will be weighted as follows: Subjects. Letter-writing Arithmetic Hull Construction Pilot rules and inland navigation Lifeboats and liferafts Experience Total Information relative to the scope of the examination may be found in sections 37 and 161 of the Manual of Examin- ations, revised to January 1, 1902. Age limit, 25 to 55 years. From the eligibles resulting from this examination it is expected that certification will be made to the position of local and assistant inspector of hulls in the Steamboat- In- spection Service, Jacksonville, Florida, .at a salary. of. $1,500 per annum, and to other similar vacancies as they © may occur. This examination is open to all citizens of the United States who comply with the requirements. Competitors ¢ will be rated without regard to any consideration other — than the qualifications shown in their examination papers, g and eligibles will be -certified strictly in accordance with the civil service law and rules. Persons who desire to compete should at once apply to the secretary of the local board of examiners at the places mentioned in the accompanying list, or to the United States - ve Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C., for applica- tion Form 1087 and a copy of the Manual of Examina- tions. ‘The application should be properly executed and filed with the Commission at Washington prior to the. hour of closing business on March 22. OOo AN ANCIENT ENGINE. : “Probably one of the best examples of historical engines is the ‘Earlston,’ an old Newcomen pumping engine still eccasionally worked at the Caprington colliery, two miles from Kilmarnock, near Glasgow. The history. of this engine 1s uneventful. It was set up at, Caprington in 1806, and has been used almest continuously ever since, at the same place, practically without any renewals or alterations. © Some time ago it was proposed to remove it, but as it was found still ‘serviceable, giving little trouble and capable of , useful work on an emergency, it was left in position: On one occasion, when the workings in the mine were flooded to a depth of 30 ft., it was set to work, night and day, and pumped out the water in six weeks. “The engine, with the boiler beneath it, stands in an iso- lated house, with half of the beam projecting. It is single- acting, single-cylinder, and the piston is drawn down by the vacuum formed below it. The diameter of the cylinder is 30 inches; stroke 5 ft. 3 in.; diameter of the pump, 9 in.; stroke, 5 ft. 3 in., or the same as that of the motor piston, as the beam is of equal length on both sides of the main bearings. The jack-head and service pumps are both 5% in. in diameter and 2 ft. 7% in. stroke. The lift of the main pump is 170 ft., and both engine and pump work at twelve strokes per minute. "The steam pressure in the boiler is about ™% lb. above atmosphere, and the vacuum in the cylinder, from diagrams recently taken, is 8% lbs. The © engine indicates 9.65 horse power, and the pump is 8.32 horse power. The only structural change made in the en- gine since it was first set up was the “substitution, about — fifty years ago, of a cast-iron beam with radius bar and | parallel motion for the original old wooden beam with ~ ‘cradles’ at the ends. ‘The engine has, however, worn out several boilers since it was first started. The top of the cylinder is open to prevent the passing of air below the pis- ton, a jet of water from the pump plays constantly above the piston. If too much water accumulates, it is led off through a hole and pipe at a suitable level, to the hot well. The valve gear is of the type usual in these old Newcomen engines with tappet rods worked from the beam, tappet levers and catches; one tappet arrangement is for the in- jection water, and another for the steam inlet. An indi- eator cock was fixed on the engine by Mr. Hugh Dunn, the manager, in October, 1897.” Weights. (Third grade)... ) ROU ooNi et