2S2 



ENGINEERING. 



Electric Launches. One of the conspicuous 

 electrical successes of the year was the use of elec- 

 tric launches at the World's Fair. The consent of 

 the management to their introduction was looked 

 upon as a questionable experiment, but a pretty 

 fleet of fifty launches was ready at an early date, 

 and served without a serious break during the 

 entire exhibition. About 1,000,000 passengers 

 were carried, and the launches averaged some- 

 thing more than 3,000 miles each, at an average 

 cost per mile for running expenses of 5| cents. 

 The total average cost per day for each launch 

 was $1.48|. 



The launches were provided and operated by 

 the Electric Launch and Navigation Company 

 of New York. Each boat was 35 feet 10 inches 

 over all, 31 feet 6 inches on the water line, 6 feet 

 2^ inches beam, and 27 inches draught. The 

 storage batteries used were of the Consolidated 

 Electric Storage Company's type, with 66 cells 

 for each boat. These cells were stowed under 

 the seats, quite out of sight, and were charged at 

 night, so that the whole fleet was ready for duty 

 early in the morning. None of the steersmen 

 had ever handled electric launches before, though 

 they were all experienced watermen. The cur- 

 rent is controlled by a small lever switch beside 

 the steering wheel, adjusted for four rates of 

 speed forward and two backward. The nominal 

 speed is 6 to 7 miles an hour, but they have a 

 reserve speed of 8 to 10 miles. On Chicago day 

 the boats averaged 40 to 50 miles each, without 

 exhausting their supply of electricity. Upon 

 the whole, the supposed doubtful experiment re- 

 sulted most favorably, and is rich with promise 

 for the future of the storage battery. 



Whaleback Steamers. Seagoing craft ap- 

 proximately cylindrical in shape, and intended 



was intended to shorten the transatlantic passage. 

 She was a total failure. In 1878 a craft some- 

 what similar in design was built to bring the great 

 Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle 

 from Alexandria to London. It had no motive 

 power of its own, making the trip in tow of a 

 steamer. It was abandoned during a gale in 

 the Bay of Biscay, but remained afloat neverthe- 

 less, and was eventually picked up by a passing 

 steamer and towed into port. It was a com- 

 paratively small craft, but its seaworthiness 

 was unquestionable. It remained for Alexander 

 McDougall, a shipmaster of the Great Lakes, to 

 reduce the principle to practice. In 1888 he de- 

 signed and built the first whaleback barge, of 

 437 tons registry and 1,400 tons capacity. She 

 was an object of ridicule to ail lake navigators, 

 but her cost was only $45.000, and within two 

 years she had netted her owners nearly twice 

 that amount. That settled the question of whale- 

 backs. Sailormen still call them " pigs." but the 

 epithet is no longer applied in derision. The 

 American Steel Barge Company have turned out 

 an enormous fleet of these eminently useful 

 craft, large self-propelling steamers, as well as 

 vessels for towage only. A " whaleback " crossed 

 the Atlantic in 1890, and provoked much curious 

 and largely adverse criticism among British 

 naval architects. The influence of the type is 

 visible, however, in the " Turret Cargo Steamer " 

 (Doxford's patent), which may or may not turn 

 out to be an improvement. The success of 

 whalebacks as carriers at once suggested their 

 adaptability for passenger traffic, but the in- 

 ventor's designs in this direction were not real- 

 ized until the Columbian Exhibition afforded the 

 desired opportunity. The "Christopher Colum- 

 bus " was finished and on duty throughout the 



A WHALEBACK STEAMER. 



to live with the waves sweeping over them from 

 stem to stern, are no new invention. Such a 

 one was built for Mr. Winans, of Baltimore, 

 about 1860. She was cigar-shaped in model, and 



season, carrying many thousand passengers be- 

 tween the city and the fair : her full capacity 

 was 5,000. In all essentials she is a " whaleback," 

 302 feet long, with 7 elliptical turrets rising from 



