MISSISSIPPI STEAMERS. 



being now 150 Ibs., and I am assured, on good authority, that it is 

 not unfrequently raised to even 200 Ibs. (The boilers are cylindrical, 

 of large diameter, and of the rudest kind. When returning flues 

 are constructed in them, the space left is so small, that the 

 slightest variation in the quantity of water they contain, or in the 

 trim of the vessel, causes the upper flues to be uncovered, and the 

 intense action of the furnace in this case soon renders them red- 

 hot, when a frightful collapse is almost inevitable. The red-hot 

 iron, no longer able to resist the intense pressure, gives way, the 

 boiler explodes, and the scalding water is scattered in all direc- 

 tions, often producing more terrible effects than even the fragments 

 of the boiler which are projected around with destructive force. 



20. Another frequent cause of explosion in these boilers is the 

 quantity of mud held in suspension in the waters of the Mississippi 

 below the mouth of the Missouri. As the water in the boiler is 

 evaporated, the earthy matter which it held in suspension remains 

 behind, and accumulates in the boiler, in the bottom of which it is 

 at length collected in a thick stratum. This produces effects 

 similar to those which take place in marine boilers, in consequence 

 of the deposition of salt. This earthy stratum collected within the 

 boiler being a non-conductor, the heat proceeding from the furnace 

 is interrupted, and, instead of being absorbed by the water, is 

 accumulated in the boiler-plates, which it ultimately renders red- 

 hot. Being thus softened, they give way, and the boiler bursts. 

 The only preventive remedy of this catastrophe is, to blow the 

 water out of the boiler from time to time, before a dangerous 

 accumulation of mud takes place, in the same manner as marine 

 boilers are blown out to prevent the accumulation of salt. The 

 engine-drivers and captains, however, rarely attend to this process. 

 They are too intent upon obtaining speed, and, to use their own 

 phrase, " going a-head." They do not hesitate to endanger their 

 own lives and those of the passengers, rather than allow themselves 

 to be outrun by a rival boat. 



Not only the Mississippi, but the Ohio, the Missouri, the Illinois, 

 the Red River, and, in a word, all the tributaries of the Father 

 of Rivers, are navigated for many thousands of miles by this 

 description of boats, worked with the same reckless disregard of 

 human life. 



21. The magnitude and splendour of these boats is little, if at 

 all, inferior to those of the Hudson. They are, however, constructed 

 more with a view to the accommodation of freight, as they carry 

 down the river large quantities of cotton and other produce, as 

 well as passengers, to the port of New Orleans. Many of these 

 vessels are three hundred feet and upwards in length, and are 

 capable of carrying a thousand tons freight, and three or four 



31 



