^40 Capt. McKonochie on the most effective Employment 



shall be also safe vessels, and not liable to go down, with every little hole in 

 their bottom, — when they shall be properly sized, according to the power of 

 their machinery, and the very smallest power consequently be valuable, and 

 appreciated accordingly, — when the pursuit of useless ornament shall be aban- 

 doned, and the investment of capital in them become thus altogether reason- 

 ably moderate, profitable, and secure; — when all these changes shall have 

 taken place, and the introduction of steam-towing into general navigation 

 seems the certain road to them, we shall then have more of these vessels, 

 they will get into the hands of those who must either work them or want, 

 and they will gradually come to be applied to a variety of cases, and in a va- 

 riety of ways and circumstances as yet unthought of. A steam-boat is just a 

 rowing-boat, with a much greater power of oars, — in facility of manceuvre, 

 and certainty and precision of effect, it is beyond comparison superior to a 

 sailing-boat, — it is, or ought to be, nearly indifferent to wind or weather, and, 

 in fact, it is just in the most difficult circumstances, by night or by day, that 

 it is desirable to have one at command, and be able to avail ourselves of its 

 extraordinary powers. Yet at present there are scarcely any afloat, unless 

 with their specific employment, from which they cannot be diverted : in dif- 

 ficult circumstances they are universally laid aside ; to say the truth, when 

 their extravagant value, varying for the most part from £3000 up to £40,000, 

 and their fragility, as at present constructed, are considered, it will appear 

 only natural that they should be thus charily employed ; and yet it is diffi- 

 cult to say what extent of advantage might be obtained, were these circum- 

 stances reversed. I shall mention two cases in particular, because they ap- 

 pear to me full of interest and importance in a great many views. But 

 others will readily occur to those familiar with nautical work. 



No use has yet been made of steam in relieving the more critical cases of 

 shipwreck, and yet these are just the occasions in which the ready command 

 of such a power would be most eminently useful, — or rather, when it would 

 be interesting in a much higher degree than can be classed under the head of 

 mere utility. Life-boats can only save life ; being impelled by manual labour 

 alone, they are not always available even for that ; in particular, they can 

 scarcely ever put to sea, and come down on a vessel lying in a surf, although 

 she may be altogether inapproachable on the land-side. Sailing-vessels can 

 still less venture on any such manoeuvre. Steam-boats, as usually construct- 

 ed, are too weak, too costly, and have too little relative power, to be willing- 

 ly placed in difficult circumstances of any kind ; and however strongly we 

 may be impressed by these considerations, it would appear impossible to have 

 any constructed and kept for these occasions alone, — the tax would be too 

 heavy which would be thus imposed on the humanity of a district. Were 

 steam-towing, however, to become generally prevalent, it would just be a 

 harvest for these tugs to look out for wrecks, and adventure in their relief. 

 Expressly constructed to meet difficult circumstances, they would not hesi- 

 tate to place themselves in them. In almost the worst, they could venture 



ftom hour to hour.) Lastly, in some experiments lately made in Cornwall, the effective power of an 

 aigine was raised from fifty to above eighty millions of pounds, lifted in a given time, merely by 

 inclosing the steam-pipe in a non-conductor (sawdust), and thus maintaining the steam throughout 

 at its original pressure. In most steam-boats this pipe passes along close by the hatchway, frequent- 

 ly double, it is true, but still by no means protected, as it easily might be. 



