1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



395 



|ioiiit of sleam ships we sliiill then stand on a par with Ne«" York. We 

 shall have four, and for some time to come she is not likely to have a greater 

 number. — Boston AUna. 



SInimboli. — This fine steamer was launched at Portsmouth on Tuesday, 

 27th of August, and immediately after warpeil under tlie sheers and masted. 

 When that was done she »as taken into dock, and is there a( present to he 

 coppered and fitted for engines, boilers, machinery, anil paddles. The fol- 

 lowing are her dimensions : — Length, 180 feet 1 5-8 inch , ditto of keel for 

 tonnage, 1.57 feet 2 .3-8 inches ; extreme breadth, 34 feet 4 inches ; ditto for 

 liinnage, 34 feet; depth of hold, 21 feet: tonnage, 966. 



Primie/heus, steam-vessel, built in Sheerness dock-yard, was launched the 

 23rd of .September ; her dimensions are : — Length betw een the pei'pendiculars. 

 164 feet ; keel for tonnage, 141 feet 6 inches; e.Ktreme lireadtli, 32 feet 8 

 inches ; breadth for tonnage, 32 feet 6 inches ; moulded, 31 feet 10 inches ; 

 depth in hold, 18 feet 7 inches ; burden in tons, 79.5 ; her engines are to be 

 of 200 horse power. This vessel was built in the short space of 3 months. 



Len^thenhig of a Steamer. — A curioits operation lately took place in Chat- 

 haiTi Dockyard, that ot lengthening the Gleaner steam-vessel, which had 

 been taken into dock for that purpose. She was sawn in two a little more 

 than one-third of her length from her stern, and ways were laid from the 

 fore part of her to tread on. the purchase falls were rove, and brought to 

 two capstans, and the order being given by the master shipwright, the men 

 hove avcay, and in five minutes the fore section was separated from the after 

 part a distance of 18 feet. The space between will now be filled up by new 

 timber. There is no record ot any ship or vessel having been lengthened 

 in this dock -yard before the Gleaner. 



A splendid steam-ship, of eight hundred tons burthen, built for the Rus- 

 sian Government, was launched at Gravesend on Monday, the 9th idt. 



The Vernon steamer sailed on Saturday, the 7th ult., from Blackwall, for 

 the Cape of Good Hope, being the tirst attempt to send an ocean steamer 

 round that point to India. 



i'ana! Steam Navigation. — Messrs. Robins and Co. seem determined to in- 

 troduce steam power on canals. On .Saturday last we went, by invitation, to 

 their warehouse in Camp-field, to witness the e.'iperimental trip of another 

 l)oat. The vessel IS the same as the one in which the propellers were used, 

 about a year ago, and its name is Norelty. It is a rotatory engine of about 

 ten horses' power, the invention of Mr. Rowley, surgeon, of this town. The 

 boiler worked in Lord's mill, in Garrat-road, about .six months ago, and is 

 therefore too heavy ibr the purjinse ; but if the experuuent succeeds, ma- 

 chinery will be maile c.NpressIy for it. the action of the propellers was so 

 violent as to shake the boat very nuich, ami cause great leakage, thereby 

 rendering it unfit for use. To avoid tins, Mr. Rowdey has adopted the rota- 

 torv form, and the motion is verv pleasant. At a few minutes before two 

 o'clock, the boat set off along the l^ridgewaler Canal, as far as a place calleil 

 the M^aters, distant about foiu' mdes and a half, performing the distance in 

 56 minutes, and the return thence in 4:5 minutes, being at the rate of nearly 

 five miles an hour. The depth of water in the duke's canal is only four feet, 

 and therefore the boat could not go at any speed. .Subsequently, hoHever, 

 she was taken on the river Irwell, and proceeded up the river as far tis the 

 New Bailey Bridge, and she went there, from the junction locks, in ten 

 minutes. .She then went down as far .as Throstle Nest weir, and performed 

 the distance from the bridge to the locks in eight minutes, and to the weir 

 in eleven minutes ; thus going in less than twenty minutes; she then re- 

 turned from Throstle Nest weir to the locks in twelve minutes. Several 

 gentlemen were on board, and expressed their perfect satisfaction at her 

 speed and motion. She started for London on Monday morning, tugging 

 another boat with her, it being the cdijeet of Messrs. Robins, not so much to 

 gain speed, as to economise the labour of horses, &c. The distance by canal 

 to London is 264 miles, and were a direct line made instead of the round- 

 about "junctions,'' it might be lessened 100 miles, and then canal passenger 

 traffic would be a very profitable undertaking. 



Her Majestr/s vew Steamer Medusa, intended for the morning line of 

 packets between Liverpool and Dublin, prueeeded on an experimental trip to 

 Kingstown, under the conimand of Lieutenant Philipps, accompanied by 

 Captain Bevis, her Majesty's agent in Liverpool. She accomplished her re- 

 turn passage in the unparalled short time of nine hours and thirty-eight 

 minutes, from pier to pier, and this under many disadvantageous circuin- 

 stances, having to contend with a very heavy beam sea. and her engines 

 being new and stiff, and tailing sIku-I by nearly a revolution per minute of 

 their speed. We understand she was liei|uently going thirteen kni.ts per 

 log, and had she been favoured by a spring tide, her ])assage would scarcely 

 have exceeded nine hours. She. and her sister ship, the Merlin, were mo- 

 delled by Sir W. Symonds, and their machinery, which has proved to be of 

 the very first order, was constructed at the celebrated foundry of our towns- 

 men, Fawcett, Preston, and Co. Tliey are of about 900 tons burden, and 

 320 horse power, and, owing to their great beam, have admirable accommo- 

 dations. The size and the strength of these vessels, their power whether 

 under canvass or steam, and the circumstance of their pas.sing the perilous 

 navigation at the entrance of our river by daylight, a matter of great eon- 

 sideratioti at all seasons, but particularly in the winter, have left the public 

 nothing to desire. — Liverpool Standard. 



Eleetro-Magnctie NaviL'attoii. — Mr. Faraday recently received a letter from 

 M. H..Iaeobi, dateil St. Petersburgh, on the application of electro-magnetism 

 to navigation, and Mr. Faraday has causeil it to be inserted in the London 

 and Edinimryk Pliilosop/iieal Magazine fur the current month. The fulloHiiig 

 is a short extract from this very curious paper: — "In the application of 

 electro-magne ism to the movement of machines, the must important obsta- 

 cle always has been the embarrassment and didieult manipulation of the 

 battery. This obstacle no longer exists. During the autumn of 1838, and 

 at a season (in IS39) already too advanced. 1 made, as you will have learne<l 

 by the Gazettes, the first experiments in navigation on the Neva, with a 

 ten-oared shallop, furni.ihed with paddle-wheels, which were put in motion 

 by an electro-magnetic machine. Although we voyaged during entire days, 

 and usually with 10 or 12 persons on board, I was nut well satislied with 



this first trial, for there were so many faults of construction and want of 

 insulations in the machines and battery, which could not be repairetl on tlie 

 spot, that 1 was terribly annoyed. All these repairs and important changes 

 being accomplished, the experiments w ill shortly be recommenceil. The ex- 

 perience of tlie past year, combined with the recent improvements of the 

 battery, give as the result, that to produce the force of one horse (steam- 

 engine estimation,) it will reipiire a battery of 20 square feet of platina dis- 

 tributed in a convenient manner, but I hope that eight to ten square feet 

 \\ill produce the effect, li' heaven preserve my health, ivhich is a little 

 afi'ected by continual labour. T hope that by next Midsummer 1 shall have 

 equipped an eleclro-magnelic vessel of from 40 to 50 horse power." 



ENGINEERING 'WORKS. 



lUtiing-bell at tlie Brealiwaler. — We understand that preparations have been 

 for some time past in progress, under the direction ot W. Stuart. I'.sq., the 

 Superintendant of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound, for the purpose of put- 

 ting a diving-bell at work upnn a part of this grand national underlaking. 

 On Thursday last the bell was lcn\ered down at the western end of the work, 

 with the view of facilitating the formation of the foundation at that end, from 

 3 to 4 feet below the lowest ebb tide ; and the extension of the slope lower 

 down, round the head, with large blocks of granite dovetailed horizontally 

 and vertically. This is the first occasion on which the bell has been used 

 upon the breakwater, though it has been frequently used in carrying on other 

 public works in this port. — Phpnoiiih Herald. 



Portishead Pier. — With a view to the port of Bristol becoming the packet 

 station for Irish anil foreign mails, a prospectus for a pier at Portishead has 

 been published, in order to secure, at all times of the tide, a safe and commo- 

 dious station for vessels, — Bath and Clieltenham Gazette. 



Thomas Rhodes, Esq., Commissioner for the Improvement of the Shannon, 

 is already on his tour of inspection. — Waterford Mail, 



Pembroke Docki/ard is to be considerably enlarged westward, and a new- 

 dock formed, agreeably to the insimctions of Government. 



The Boston Harbour Committee, acting on the suggestion of Mr. Valentine, 

 have resolved to sink ,•' vessel, to e.ct as a breakwater, at the end of the new 

 work in the haven, and i'or t'iat purpose have purchased the old Witham 

 steamer ; this and some othc, precautionary measures are expected to preserve 

 the remainder of the work, of w liich a very considerable portion was recently 

 w ashed away. 



Lineoln.shire. — The plan for deepening and widening the Till between Had- 

 dow and Till-bridge. is not to be relinquished. The fall from Till-bridge to 

 the Fossdyke being only 2 feet, it is proposed to cut a half seeti n canal, 

 thereby opening a water communication from Till-bridge to the l''oss. Were 

 this desirable object accomplished, the dyke would be rendered available for 

 the purposes of navigation ; and to the agricultural district ti w ould prove a 

 valuable acquisition, as the corn, coals, manure, &c., now transmitted by 

 land-carriage might be sent by vessels at a much cheaper rate. — Lincoln 

 Mereurij. 



River Mersey. — A meeting was lield at Liverpool, for the purpose of form- 

 ing a company to undertake to make -a tunnel under the Mersey, to connect 

 Liverpool witli the C'heshire side of the river. Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Vignoles, 

 and other eminent engineers, declared the undertaking practicable. — Chester 

 Chronicle. 



Tlie Newcastle Subscription IVater Company's large reservoir, at the West- 

 gate, has just been completed under the superintendence of W. D Anderson, 

 Ksq.. the engineer of the corporation. It will hold more, we believe, than 

 four times as much water as the old reservoir, and the town has been par- 

 tially supplied from it since Tuesday last. — Newcastle Chronicle. 



Galway Docks.— We stop the press to announce the elfect of an extraordi- 

 nary spring tide, accomptinied with a south-west gale, to be compared only 

 with the hurricane of tlie 7th of January last. T'he gale burst in a large 

 eolferdam of our new docks, within about an hour of high water, and filled 

 the basin, in an incredibly short perioil, to within 10 inches of the coping. 

 The devastation wrought by the angry and raging element was majestically 

 terrific. The immense pieces of balk, used as piles, w tre shattered io pieces, 

 and nothing could withstand ihe force with which the tide rushed in. The 

 g.ates fortunately escaped injury. The men employed by Mr. .Tames .Stephens 

 were happily removed from the works before the trememluus (we may say) 

 catastrophe. The works must be retarded for about a foitiiigbt. .Stones of 

 a ton weight were rolled fcndh as pebbles by this Jestniidive tide, and should 

 the wind continue in the same point, the coping of the dock must be covered 

 by the succeeding tides. No lives were lost. — Galway Advertiser. 



Survey of the Coast be/ween the Tliames and Portsmouth. — ^Ve have recently 

 observed notices in the local journals of inspections, by commissioners of 

 known respect;ibilily, of harbours on this coast ; and, on making the neces- 

 sary inquiries, we are exceedingly glad to learn the very important nature of 

 ihe investigation in wdiicb they are engaged. They have been appointed by 

 the Board of Admiralty to inspect the harbours ml the coast between the 

 Thames and Portsmouth, in order to enalile them to frame a general rejiort 

 founded on satisfactory data ,as to the means of improving the communication 

 between this country ami France by steam packets, and of allbrding shelter 

 to ships in distress during contrary winds or storms. There is not a single 

 harbour along the coast in question which a vessel of any considerable size, 

 or wdiich steatn packets can enter, near the period of low water. The com- 

 missioners are Admiral (iordoii, Cidonel Tnompson (a military engineer), 

 Messrs. .lames Walker and t^ubitt (civil engineers), Captain Drewe (a member 

 of Ihe Trinity House), and Captain Vidall (a post captain in the navy). 



Improvement of tlie Port and Harbour of Chester. — At a numerous and influ- 

 ential meeting of the inhabitants ofC'hester and its neighbourhood, held in 

 llie Exchange, for the purpose of hearing the report of the jirogress made by 



