of the gulf, would be eight hundred and forty miles in a north-west
direction, and therefore not opposed to the south-west monsoon. From
Muscat to Bassidore, a point upon the northern coast of the strait
at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, would be a run of two hundred and
fifty-five miles; from Bassidore to Bushire, another point on the
eastern coast of the Persian Gulf, would be a run of three hundred
miles; and from Bushire to the mouth of the Euphrates, would be one
hundred and twenty miles. It is evident that the longest of these
runs would offer no more difficulty than the passage from Malta to
Alexandria. From Bussora, near the mouth of the Euphrates, to Bir, a
town upon its left bank near Aleppo, would be one thousand one
hundred and forty-three miles, throughout which there are no
physical obstacles to the river-navigation which may not be
overcome. Some difficulties arise from the wild and savage character
of the tribes who occupy its banks. It is, however, thought that by
proper measures, and securing the co-operation of the pacha of
Egypt, any serious obstruction from this cause may be removed. From
Bir, by Aleppo, to Scanderoon, a port upon the Mediterranean,
opposite Cyprus, is a land-journey, said to be attended with some
difficulty, but not of great length; and from Scanderoon to Malta is
about the same distance as between the latter place and Alexandria.
It is calculated that the time from London to Bombay by the
Euphrates—supposing the passage to be successfully [Pg486]
established—would be a few days shorter than by Egypt and the Red
Sea.
Whichever of these courses may be adopted, it is clear that the
difficulties, so far as the powers of the steam engine are
concerned, lie in the one case between Socatra and Bombay, or
between Socatra and the Maldives, and in the other case between
Bombay and Muscat. This, however, has already been encountered and
overcome on four several voyages by the HUGH LINDSAY steamer from
Bombay to Suez: that vessel encountered a still longer run on
these several trips, by going, not to Socatra, but to Aden, a
point on the coast of Arabia, near the Straits of Babel Mandeb,
being a run of one thousand six hundred and forty-one miles, which
she performed in ten days and nineteen hours. The same trip has
since been repeatedly made by other steamers; and, in the present
improved state of steam navigation, no insurmountable obstacles
are opposed to their passage.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[35] This cut is taken from the plate of the engine of the Red
Rover, manufactured by Boulton and Watt, given in the last
edition of _Tredgold on the Steam Engine_.
[36] Appendix I., _on Marine Boilers, by J. Dinnen; Tredgold_
_on the Steam Engine_, second edition.
[37] _Tredgold on the Steam Engine_, Appendix, I. p. 171.
[38] Engines on a very large scale constructed upon this
principle are said to be in process of construction for an
iron steam-vessel of great tonnage, which is in preparation
for the New York passage. It is said that the cylinders of
these engines will be one hundred and twenty inches in
diameter.
[39] A patent was subsequently taken out for these by Mr.
Galloway. Mr. Field did not persevere in its use at the time
he invented it. It has, however, been more generally adopted
since the date of Galloway's patent.
[Pg487]
[Illustration]
CHAP. XIV.
AMERICAN STEAM NAVIGATION.
STEAM NAVIGATION FIRST ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA. — CIRCUMSTANCES
WHICH LED TO IT. — FITCH AND RUMSEY. — STEVENS OF HOBOKEN. —
LIVINGSTONE AND FULTON. — EXPERIMENTS ON THE SEINE. — FULTON'S
FIRST BOAT. — THE HUDSON NAVIGATED BY STEAM. — EXTENSION AND
IMPROVEMENT OF RIVER NAVIGATION. — SPEED OF AMERICAN STEAMERS.
— DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND EUROPEAN STEAMERS. — SEA-GOING
AMERICAN STEAMERS. — AMERICAN PADDLE-WHEELS. — LAKE STEAMERS.
— THE MISSISIPPI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. — STEAMERS NAVIGATING
IT. — THEIR STRUCTURE AND MACHINERY. — NEW ORLEANS HARBOUR. —
STEAM TUGS.
(228.) The credit of having afforded the first practical solution
of the problem to apply the steam engine to the propulsion of
ships, undoubtedly belongs to the people of the United States of
America. The geographical character of their vast country, not
less than the sanguine and enterprising spirit of the nation,
contributed to this. A coast of four thousand miles in extent,
stretching from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the embouchures of the
Mississippi, indented and [Pg488] serrated in every part with
natural harbours and sheltered bays, and fringed with islands
forming sounds—capes, and promontories enclosing arms of the sea,
in which the waters are free from the roll of the ocean, and take
the placid character of lakes,—rivers of imposing magnitude,
navigable for vessels of the largest class, for many hundreds and
in some instances for many thousands of miles, affording access to
the innermost population of an empire, whose area vastly exceeds
the whole European continent,—chains of lakes composed of the
most extensive bodies of fresh water in the known world,—and this
extensive continent peopled by races carrying with them the habits
and feelings together with much of the skill and knowledge of the
most civilized parts of the globe, endowed also with that
inextinguishable spirit of enterprise which ever belongs to an
emigrant people,—form a combination of circumstances more than
sufficient to account for the fact of this nation snatching from
England, the parent of the steam engine, the honour of first
bringing into practical operation one of the most important—if
indeed it be not altogether the most important—of the many
applications of that machine to the uses of life.
The circumstances which rendered these extensive tracts of inland
and coast navigation eminently suited to the application of steam
power, formed so many obstructions and difficulties to the
application of other more ordinary means of locomotion on water.
The sheltered bays and sounds which offered a smooth and
undisturbed surface to the action of the infant steamer argued the
absence of that element which gave effect to the sails and rigging
of the wind-propelled ship, and the rapid currents of the gigantic
streams formed by the drainage of this great continent, though
facilitating access to the coast, rendered the oar powerless in
the ascent.
(229.) The first great discovery of Watt had scarcely been
realized in practice by the construction of the single-acting
steam-engine, when the speculative and enterprising Americans
conceived the project of applying it as a moving power in their
inland navigation. So early as the year 1783 [Pg489] Fitch and
Rumsey made attempts to apply the single-acting engine to the
propulsion of vessels, and their failure is said to have arisen
more from the inherent defects of that machine in reference to
this application of it, than from any want of ingenuity or
mechanical skill on their parts. In 1791, John Stevens of Hoboken
commenced his experiments on steam navigation, which were
continued for sixteen years; during a part of this period he was
assisted by Livingstone (who was subsequently instrumental in
advancing the views of Fulton), and by Roosevelt. These projectors
had, at that time also, the assistance and advice of Brunel, since
so celebrated for the invention of the block machinery, and the
construction of the Thames Tunnel. Their proceedings were
interrupted by the appointment of Livingstone as American Minister
at Paris, under the Consular Government.
At Paris, Livingstone met Fulton, who had been previously engaged
in similar speculations, and being struck with his mechanical
skill, and the soundness of his views, joined him in causing a
series of experiments to be made, which were accordingly carried
on at Plombières, and subsequently on a still more extensive scale
on the Seine, near Paris. Having by this course of experiments
obtained proofs of the efficiency of Fulton's projects, sufficient
to satisfy the mind of Livingstone, he agreed to obtain for Fulton
the funds necessary to construct a steam boat on a large scale, to
be worked upon the Hudson. It was decided, in order to give the
project the best chance of success, to obtain the machinery from
Bolton and Watt. In 1803, Fulton accordingly made drawings of the
engines intended for this first steamer, which were sent to Soho,
with an order for their construction. Fulton, meanwhile, repaired
to America, to superintend the construction of the boat. The
delays incidental to these proceedings retarded the completion of
the boat and machinery until the year 1807, when all was
completed, and the first successful experiment made at New York.
The vessel was placed, for regular work, to ply between New York
and Albany, in the beginning of 1808; and, from that time to the
present, this river has been the theatre of the most [Pg490]
remarkable series of experiments on locomotion on water which has
ever been presented in the history of navigation.
(230.) The form and arrangement of this first marine engine was,
in many respects, similar to that which is still generally used
for marine purposes. The cold water cistern was abandoned, and an
increased condensing power obtained by enlarging the condenser. It
was usual to make the condenser half the diameter of the cylinder,
and half its length, and therefore one eighth of its capacity. The
condenser, however, was now made of the same diameter as the
cylinder, being still half its length; its capacity therefore,
instead of being only an eighth, was half of the cylinder; the
condensing jet was admitted by a pipe passing through the bottom
of the vessel. As in the present marine engines, two working beams
were provided, one at either side of the cylinder; but in order to
provide against the difficulties which might arise in the
adaptation of machinery made at Birmingham to a vessel made at New
York, beams were constructed in the form of an inverted ┻, the
working arms being twofold, one horizontal and the other vertical,
so that the connecting rod might be carried from the crank, either
downwards, to the end of the horizontal arm, or horizontally, to
the end of the vertical arm. In fact there was a choice, to use
either a straight beam, or a bell-crank. The latter was that which
was adopted in this instance. The paddle-shaft, driven by the
crank, passed across the vessel, and had the paddle-wheels keyed
upon it as at present; and in order to equalise the effect of the
engine spur wheels were also placed on the paddle-shaft, by which
pinions were driven, placed upon an axle, which carried a
fly-wheel.
The speed attained by this steam boat, when it first began to ply
upon the river, did not exceed four miles an hour, but by a series
of improvements its rate of motion was soon increased to six miles
an hour. In the steam boats subsequently constructed by Fulton a
greater speed was attained; but in the latest vessels built by him
he did not exceed a speed of nine miles an hour, which he
considered to be the greatest that could be advantageously
obtained.
While Fulton was making his plans, and engaged in the [Pg491]
construction of his first boat, Mr. Stevens of Hoboken, already
mentioned, was engaged in a like project, and completed a vessel,
to be propelled by a steam engine, within a few weeks after the
first successful voyage of Fulton. Stevens was likewise completely
successful; but the exclusive privilege of navigating the Hudson
by steam having been granted to Fulton by an act of Congress,
Stevens was compelled to select another theatre for his
operations, and he accordingly sent his steam boat by sea to
Philadelphia, to navigate the Delaware, thus securing for himself
the honour of having made the first sea voyage by steam.
Fulton did not long retain the monopoly of the steam navigation of
the Hudson. Fortunately for the progress of steam navigation, the act
conferring upon him that privilege was declared unconstitutional;
and the navigation of that noble river was thrown open to the spirit
and enterprise of American genius. The number of passengers conveyed
upon it became enormous beyond all precedent, and inducements of the
strongest kind were accordingly held out to the improvement of its
navigation. The distance between New York and Albany, ascertained by
a late survey to be one hundred and twenty-five geographical miles by
water, had been performed by Fulton's boats occasionally in fifteen
or sixteen hours, being at the rate of about eight miles an hour,
including stoppages. It became a great object to increase the speed
of this trip, so that it might at all times of the year be performed
between sunrise and sunset. Robert L. Stevens, the son of the person
of that name already mentioned, immediately after the abolition
of Fulton's monopoly, placed on the river a vessel which had been
built for the Delaware, which easily performed the passage in twelve
hours, being at the rate of nearly ten and a half geographical miles
an hour. By this increase of speed the improved boats so entirely
monopolised the day work upon the river, that the former steamers
were either converted into steam tugs to draw barges laden with
goods, or used for night trips between New York and Albany. In the
night trips the saving of one or two hours was immaterial, it being
sufficient that the vessel which left the one port at night should
reach the other in the morning. [Pg492]
The river Hudson rises near Lake Champlain, the easternmost of the
great chain of lakes or inland seas which extend from east to west
across the northern boundary of the United States. The river
follows nearly a straight course southwards for two hundred and
fifty miles, and empties itself into the sea at New York. The
influence of the tide is felt as far as Albany, above which the
stream begins to contract. Although this river in magnitude and
extent is by no means equal to several others which intersect the
States, it is nevertheless rendered an object of great interest by
reason of the importance and extent of its trade. The produce of
the state of New York and that of the banks of the great Lakes
Ontario and Erie are transported by it to the capital; and one of
the most extensive and populous districts of the United States is
supplied with the necessary imports by its waters. A large fleet
of vessels is constantly engaged in its navigation; nor is the
tardy but picturesque sailing vessel as yet excluded by the more
rapid steamers. The current of the Hudson is said to average
nearly three miles an hour; but as the ebb and flow of the tide
are felt as far as Albany, the passage of the steamers between
that place and New York may be regarded as equally affected by
currents in both directions, or nearly so. The passage therefore,
whether in ascending or descending the river, is made nearly in
the same time.
(231.) The prevalence of smooth water navigation, whether on the
surfaces of rivers or in sheltered bays and sounds, has invested
the problem of steam navigation in America with conditions so
entirely distinct and different from those under which the same
problem presents itself to the European engineer, that any
comparison of the performance of vessels, whether with regard to
speed or the absorption of power in the two cases, must be utterly
fallacious. In Europe a steamer is almost invariably a vessel
designed to encounter the agitated surface of an open sea, and is
accordingly constructed upon principles of suitable strength and
stability. It is likewise supplied with rigging and with sails, to
be used in aid of the mechanical power, and manned and commanded
by experienced seamen; in fact, it is a combination of a nautical
and mechanical structure. In America, on the other hand, [Pg493]
with the exception of the vessels which navigate the great
northern lakes, the steamers are structures exclusively
mechanical, being designed for smooth water. They require no other
strength or stability than that which is sufficient to enable them
to float and to bear a progressive motion through the water. Their
mould is conceived with an exclusive view to speed; they are
therefore slender and weak in their build, of great length in
proportion to their width, and having a very small draught of
water. In fact, they approach in their form to that of a Thames
wherry on a very large scale.
The position and form of the machinery is likewise affected by
these conditions. Without the necessity of being protected from a
rough sea, it is placed on the deck in an elevated position. The
cylinders of large diameter and short stroke invariably used in
Europe are unknown in America, and the proportions are reversed, a
small diameter and stroke of great length being invariably
adopted. It is rarely that two engines are used. A single engine,
placed in the centre of the deck, with a cylinder from forty to
sixty inches' diameter, and from eight to ten foot stroke, drives
paddle-wheels from twenty-one to twenty-five feet in diameter,
producing from twenty-five to thirty revolutions per minute. The
great magnitude of the paddle-wheels and the velocity imparted to
them enable them to perform the office of fly-wheels, and to carry
the engine round its centres, not however without a perceptible
inequality of motion, which gives to the American steamer an
effect like that of a row boat advancing by starts with each
stroke of the piston. The length of stroke adopted in these
engines enables them to apply with great effect the expansive
principle, which is almost universally used, the steam being
generally cut off at half stroke.
The steamers which navigate the Hudson are vessels of considerable
magnitude, splendidly fitted up for the accommodation of
passengers; they vary from one hundred and eighty to two hundred
and forty feet in length, and from twenty to thirty feet in width
of beam. In the following table is given the particulars of nine
steamers plying on this river, taken from [Pg494] the work of Mr.
Stevenson, and from the paper of Mr. Renwick, inserted in the last
edition of Tredgold:—
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
| Length | Breadth | Draft | Drain | Length
Names. | of | of | of | of | of
| Deck. | Beam. | Water. | Wheel. | Paddles.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
| Ft. | Ft. | Ft. | Ft. | Ft.
Dewit Clinton | 230 | 28 | 5·5 | 21 | 13·7
Champlain | 180 | 27 | 5·5 | 22 | 15
Erie | 180 | 27 | 5·5 | 22 | 15
North America | 200 | 30 | 5 | 21 | 13
Independence | 148 | 26 | —— | —— | ——
Albany | 212 | 26 | —— | 24·5 | 14
Swallow | 233 | 22·5 | 3·75 | 24 | 11
Rochester | 200 | 25 | 3·75 | 23·5 | 10
Utica | 200 | 21 | 3·5 | 22 | 9·5
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
| Depth | Number | Drain | Length| Number | Part of
Names. | of | of | of | of | of | Stroke
| Paddles| Engines| Cylinder| Stroke| Revs | at which
| | | | | | it is
| | | | | | cut off.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
| In. | | In. | Ft. | |
Dewit Clinton | 36 | 1 | 65 | 10 | 29 | 3/4
Champlain | 34 | 2 | 44 | 10 | 27·5 | 1/2
Erie | 34 | 2 | 44 | 10 | 27·5 | 1/2
North America | 30 | 2 | 44·5 | 8 | 24 | 1/2
Independence | —— | 1 | 44 | 10 | |
Albany | 30 | 1 | 65 | —— | 19 |
Swallow | 30 | 1 | 46 | —— | 27 |
Rochester | 24 | 1 | 43 | 10 | 28 |
Utica | 24 | 1 | 39 | 10 | |
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
None of these vessels have either masts or rigging, and
consequently never derive any propelling power except from the
engines: they are neither manned nor commanded by persons having
any knowledge of navigation: the works that are visible above
their decks are the beam and framing of the engine, and the
chimneys.
The engines used for steamers on the Hudson, and other great
rivers and bays on the eastern coast of America, are most commonly
condensing engines, but they nevertheless work with steam of very
high pressure, being seldom less than twenty-five pounds per
square inch, and sometimes as much as fifty. By reference to the
preceding table it will be seen, that the velocity of the piston
greatly exceeds the limit generally observed in Europe. It is
customary in European marine engines to limit the speed of the
piston to about two hundred and twenty feet per minute. Even the
piston of a locomotive engine does not much exceed the rate of
three hundred feet per minute. In the American steamers, however,
the pistons commonly move at the rate of from five to six hundred
feet per minute, while the circumference of the paddle-wheels are
driven at the rate of from twenty to twenty-two miles an hour.
[Pg495]
[Illustration: _Fig._ 135.]
The hulls of these boats are formed with a perfectly flat bottom
and perpendicular sides, rounded at the angles, as represented in
_fig._ 135. At the bow, or cutwater, they are made very sharp, and
the deck projects to a great distance over the sides. The weight
of the machinery is distributed over an extensive surface of the
bottom of this feeble structure, by means of a frame-work of
substantial carpentry to which it is attached.
At the height of from four to six feet above the water-line is
placed the deck, which is a platform, having the shape of a very
elongated ellipse. The extremities of its longer axis are
supported by the sternpost and the cutwater, and its sides expand
in gentle curves on either hand to a considerable distance beyond
the limits of the hull; those parts of the deck thus overhanging
the water are called the wheel guards.
Beneath the first deck is the saloon, or dining-room, which also,
as is usual in European steamers, forms the gentlemen's
sleeping-room. It usually extends from end to end of the vessel.
The middle of the first deck is occupied by the engine, boilers,
furnaces, and chimneys, of which latter there are generally two.
Between the chimneys and the stern, above the first deck, is
constructed the ladies' cabin, which is covered by the second
deck, called the promenade deck. The great length of these boats
and the elevation of the cabins render it impossible for a
steersman at the stern to see ahead, and they are, consequently,
steered from the bow; the wheel placed there communicating with
the helm at the stern, by chains or rods carried along the sides
of the boat. Until a recent period, the wheel was connected with
the stern by ropes, but some fatal accidents, produced by fire,
[Pg496] in which these ropes were burnt, and the steersman lost
all power to guide the vessel, caused metal rods or chains to be
substituted.
(232.) The paddle-wheels universally used in American steam-boats
are formed, as if by the combination of two or more common
paddle-wheels, placed one outside the other, on the same axle, but
so that the paddle boards of each may have an intermediate
position between those of the adjacent one, as represented in
_fig._ 136.
[Illustration: _Fig._ 136.]
The spokes, which are bolted to cast-iron flanges, are of wood.
These flanges, to which they are so bolted, are keyed upon the
paddle shaft. The outer extremities of the spokes are attached to
circular bands or hoops of iron, surrounding the wheel; and the
paddle boards, which are formed of hard wood, are bolted to the
spokes. The wheels thus constructed, sometimes consist of three,
and not unfrequently four, independent circles of paddle boards,
placed one beside the other, and so adjusted in their position,
that the boards of no two divisions shall correspond.
The great magnitude of the paddle-wheels, and the circumstance of
the navigation being carried on, for the most part, in smooth
water, have rendered unnecessary, in America, the adoption of any
of those expedients for neutralising the effects of the oblique
action of the paddles, which have been tried, but hitherto with so
little success, in Europe.
(233.) Sea-going steamers are not numerous in America, the chief
of them being those which ply between New York and Providence, and
between New York and Charleston. These vessels, however, do not
resemble the sea-going steamers of Europe as closely as might be
expected; and to those who are accustomed to the latter, the
sea-going [Pg497] steamers of America can hardly be regarded as
safe means of transport.
In the following Table is given the dimensions of five of these
vessels, all plying between New York and Providence:—