ba 
Ferre 
on the Steam Engine. $35 
has yet been contrived for high pressure engines, nor indeed for any 
where the tension of the steam exceeds 11 atmospheres. Neither are 
they always applied even to low pressure engines. 
- The chimney should_be provided with a damper, by which the 
draught of the flues may be suddenly checked, and doors should, if 
| possible, be placed upon the ash pit. A damper that would close as 
-soonas the engine ceased to move, would be of great service in les- 
_ Sening the wort to explosion, and _ this dogs not appear to be pe 
ficult of attain 
9. The Sci a ‘the boiler should be conducted with the greatest 
care, first with water, at a pressure five or six times as great as the 
boiler is intended to carry, and afterwards with steam of twice the pro- 
posed tension. The water proof should be repeated from time to 
time, and every part carefully examined to ascertain that all the safe- 
ty apparatus is in working order.—pp. 101—2. 
The following paragraph presents us with a fearful view, of ies heg- 
ligence which prevails in our country in respect to these precautic 
An intelligent gentleman, intimately acquainted with the state ‘of steam 
boat navigation in this country, has intimated to us, that the negligence 
isnot so great as is here represented. | We hope it is not; but the ter- 
=~ disasters that are multiplying upon us, give us too much reason 
fear that the account is substantially true. It is as follows. 
or 4 of these precautions are ustial in our American steal am 
e boilers, even if cylinders, have both internal flues ne 3 
naces, a the vertical chimney frequently rises in the boiler; there 
isnever more than one safety valve; plates of fusible metal are un- 
known; the feeding apparatus is merely a forcing pump, which is turn- 
ed on or thrown off at the pleasure of the engineer, and which does not 
act at all at the time the engine is not in motion; but a very few steam 2 
boats have dampers upon their flues; and the proof is wholly a matter 
between the maker and proprietor, and for its proper performance the 
public have no guarantee. ‘Thus, of all the precautions that have been 
Proposed in order to insure indemnity from explosion, but two are in 
use among our steam boats, namely, the safety valve and guage cocks; 
the former being still subject to the caprice of the persons employed, 
and the latter having an uncertainty in their indications, beth when 
the boat inelines to either side, and when they contain, as they most 
Dine will do, water of condensation. Need we wonder that ex- 
nd that they have i 0 the most 
the care of Silents of the vessel, and of the persons em- 
ty thn the eee is unremitting, and directed by the utmost 
S 
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