The small steam ferry boats represented in the accompanying cut are
doing service in the port of Marseilles, and the following description
of them has been given by Mr. Flecher in the _Bulletin de la Société des
Anciens Elèves d'Arts et Metiers_:
All those who are acquainted with the Old Port of Marseilles know the
inconvenience of communication between one shore and the other, and the
high price of ferriage by row boats. To obviate this, Captain Advient
has been struck with the happy idea of creating a cheap steam service
(fare one cent), thus supplying a genuine want in the modes of
locomotion of the city.
The building of these ferry boats, on a system providing for the use of
separate hulls, was confided to Messrs. Stapfer, De Duclos & Co., of
Marseilles, whose well-known reputation was a sufficient guarantee that
the problem would be successfully solved.
There existed difficulties of two natures: The first of these related to
the stability of boats such as this, having their engine, boiler, supply
of coal, forty passengers who might all occupy one side of the vessel, a
central superstructure, with roof; and, finally, all the weight centered
on five feet of the deck, with nothing below to counterbalance it except
the hollow hulls and two three-foot compartments, each placed toward the
central portion of the hulls and designed as fresh-water reservoirs
for the steam generator. The second difficulty was to obtain the best
utilization possible of a screw placed in the current between the hulls
and upon a shaft inclined toward the stern, that is, "stern" by analogy,
for there is no distinction of fore and aft in ferry boats.
[Illustration: STEAM FERRYBOATS OF THE PORT OF MARSEILLES.]
The conditions of the problem were finally fulfilled to the satisfaction
of all concerned, and especially to that of the public.
The hulls, navicular in form and having a flat bottom, are constructed
of one-tenth inch iron plate and 40x40 angle iron. Their dimensions
are: Length, 33 feet; breadth, 3¼ feet; and depth, 5 feet. The internal
distance between the two shells is 7¼ feet. These hulls, having
absolutely water-tight decks, are connected below by tie bars of flat
iron, and above by vertical stays 1 foot in length, which serve to
support the floor-planks of the deck and boilerplate flooring of the
engine-room. The engine-room, which is 19½ feet long by 5 feet wide, is
constructed of varnished pitch-pine, with movable side-shutters of teak.
The roof, of thin iron plate, is provided with a ventilator to allow of
the escape of hot air.
The passengers, to the number of forty or fifty, can move about freely
from larboard to starboard, or from stem to stern, or seat themselves
on the benches running along the inside of the guard railing on the two
sides of the vessel. They are protected from rain by a roof, and from
the rays of the sun by a curtain extending along the sides.
Although the usual method of landing is fore and aft, gangways have been
provided at the sides for side-landing should it become necessary.
The general appearance of one of these boats may be likened to that of a
floating street-car. Finally, a small apartment, provided with benches,
is provided for the use of those passengers who might be taken sick, or
for office purposes, if need be.
The total weight of one of the boats is divided up as follows:
Forty passengers................ 6,200 pounds,
Engine and boiler............... 6,600 "
Ballast, water, and equipment... 9,900 "
Deck and superstructure......... 6,600 "
Hull and accessories............12,500 "
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