APPENDIX. Ill 



sion of more power than is necessary for the mere turning of the pad- 

 dles. In addition to this, the gears are protected in no way from the 

 weather. Under all these conditions, however, there was ample 

 power in the engine to provide for all emergencies. 



The speed of the engine, 320 revolutions per minute, is reduced, by 

 means of belt pulleys situated within the engine-house, to forty 

 revolutions. This speed is transmitted by means of a belt to a main 

 transverse shaft of l^-inch steel running across the houseboat. 



From this main shaft two transmissions are made to 1-inch shaft- 

 ing running transversely on the two floats. The constant change in 

 level between the houseboat and the floats, caused by the motion of 

 the water, made necessary the adoption of universal joints (Plate 

 XVII) invented especially for this purpose, to connect the shaft on 

 the houseboat with the shafts on the floats. These universal joints 

 consist of a pair of toggle-joints (Fig. 2) united by means of a sleeve 

 (Fig. 5) in which two pieces of square shafting slide (Figs. 3, 7). The 

 toggle-joints make possible the transmission of power at any angle, 

 and the square shafting, sliding in the sleeve, allows for the length- 

 ening or shortening of the distance between the houseboat and the 

 floats. From the transverse shafts on each float, which of course 

 have the same speed as the main transverse shaft on the houseboat, 

 connection is made, by sets of mitred gears, to longitudinal shafts 

 running the length of the centers of the floats. The speed of the 

 longitudinal shafts is reduced by the gears to twenty revolutions per 

 minute. 



From these two longitudinal shafts, connection is made, by means 

 mitred gears, to the vertical paddle shafts. (Plate XX, figs. 4-9.) 

 In these the speed is reduced by the gears to nine revolutions. The 

 paddle shafts are composed of two parts. The upper part, which is 

 above the water, consists of one-inch square shafting. The lower 

 part, which enters the water and upon which the paddle blades are 

 attached, consists of galvanized iron piping except at the extreme 

 upper end, where there is a short piece of one-inch square shafting. 

 This piece of square shaft enables the power to be transmitted from 



