1S42. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



51 



One pair of boilers were used, these being on the guard mad" t'.ie length 

 of the steam pipe about 13 feet, it and the cylinder being covered so as to 

 lessen the radiation of heat. At the time of the experiments the boat had a 

 list to port, which made the immersion of the starboanl buckets two and a 

 half inches, ami the larboard ones seven inches. The pressure in the boilers 

 being one and a half pounds to the square inch, the throttle valve being open 

 (during the experiments,) and the whole stroke on, just kept the engine in 

 motion, being equal to the friction. 



I also verified the experiments noted in this journal, to prove that the 

 water displaced bjr steambo.-.t wheels did not come from before them. I 

 strewed the surface of the water with chaff and then set the wheels in 

 motion, and found that six inches in front of the wheels the chaff floated 

 uodiiturbed. — Franilin Journal. 



EXPLOSION OF A STEAM BOILER AT MANXHESTER. 



Ln the beginning of the month of October last, an awful occurrence took 

 place through the bursting of the boiler of a steam engine, at the factory of 

 Messrs. Elce St Cot tarn, in Jersey .Street. Manchester. uLich occasioned the 

 death of nine individuals working at the factory. An inquest was held upon 

 the bodies before James Ch.ipman, Esq., the coroner for the borough of Man- 

 chester, u ho has very kindly furnished us with a copy of the depositions, 

 from which we now extnct the most important part ; the inquest was held 

 on the Hth day of October last, and was adjourned until the 5lU day of 

 KovemUer. for the purpose of allowing competent parties to examine into 

 the cause of the accident. 



St.waril Sands «as examined. He stated that he is a pattern maker, 

 and had much experience in the working of steam engines, and has been 

 in the employ of Messrs. Elce and C'otiam for the last nine months. The 

 engine was a six horse puwer high pressure engine, and was an old one; 

 the boiler was cyhnilrical. with eggtJ (Aa.t) ends 6f wrought iron, three 

 eighths of an inch in thickness, and stayed from enil to end by an iron 

 rod passing through it, and cottereil at each end. He thought the boiler 

 had been overweighted from the quantity of machinery the engine had 

 to move. The engine had not started, as he was going into tlie yard, 

 to any «ork ; but the safely valve attached to the boiler would be weighted 

 for the machinery it had t'l put in motion during the day ; this was too 

 much, and caused it to burst. On the first Ijoor there were two grinding 

 atones, seven lathes, a drilling machine, a smith's bello.vs, and a boring .ii'- 

 par.itas lor head stocks. On the second floor were one small grinding stone. 

 nx lathes, a planing machine four feet long, a centreing machine, and .t 

 wheel-cutting mncbine. In the third floor there was a roring or jack frame 

 containing 72 spindles. With the cxcepiion of the centring nnchine, all 

 lia 1 been at work up to six o'clock the previous afternoon, and had been 

 turne I by the engine. The roving frame. «hich started about a forlnighi 

 ago, worked only at inttrv.ils. It had been at work the day before the acci- 

 dent from three In the afternoon until six, and It was intended to be worked 

 with the others the following day. The boiler was 3ft. 6in. in diameter, bu° 

 be couM not speak to its length, and was in good condition and well calcu- 

 lated to work .in engine of six horse power, but no more. The cylinder was 

 eight in h bore, and two feet stroke. For this engine thirty pounds to the 

 wjuare inch was sufficient, and from the quantity of turning that had to be 

 done, he thought tlic engine n as overworked . It would lake three or four 

 borses power more to |erform the work the engine had to do. When the 

 engine is not overweighted, if goes so freely that Its motion is not heard, but 

 when it is ovcnvclghted It goes stiffly, and makes a loud hissing noise. Me 

 prrceired, for the last three monthi. by those signs, that the enjiine was 

 OTcrwetghtel. He thinks it will lake two horses power to drive the jack 



frame. He knew Elward Alien, the late foreman. He is quite sure the en- 

 gine and boiler were overwe:gh!ed ly about three or four horses power the 

 evening before the accident. Yesterday, about half pust three in ihe after- 

 noon, i told Mr. Elce that the engine had been overworked : he said be 

 thought not before the jack frame had been put on. .Sands said " You mutt 

 know it was ovtnveighteil ; " and Mr. E'ce replied, it was not overweiyhie 1. 

 but he thought ihc jackframe was more than what it was calculated to work. 

 JaliH Lfe, of Manchester, machine maker, was exam ned. He stated tliat 

 he had much experience in engines and boilers. .Saw the premises imme- 

 diately after the accident, and since the bo:ler w as fouiul, and Itis examined 

 It and the ruins, in order to ascertain the cause of the accident. He first 

 thought that the boiler had been sli rt of water, and that by pumping cidd 

 water upon the heated plates, it had generated some elastic force very sud- 

 denly, so as to cause explosion : but on enq.iiry. he found tliat the engine 

 had no; started that morning Boilers oftener l.urst at starting than after- 

 wards. If there was too much steam in the boiler, or if it was overloaded, if 

 the pressure had l.een gradually generated, and the valve was not fast, dan- 

 ger would not ensue : but f su'ldenly generated, or the valve fast, explosion 

 would take place; the valve was of suflicient size to ciny oil the steam in 

 case of over pressure. He thought trom the first that the valve was not fast, 

 because the first projectile force was given ihrough the safety valve, which 

 threw the blowpipe across the two yards, a distance of l(jC) feet, and forced 

 the same six inches into the brick embankment, and from an examinaliun of 

 the valve since, he was of the same opinion. He found the valve in good 

 order, but the valve rod was bent in consequence of Icing thrown fr^ro the 

 boiler at the time of the explosion. He got the rod straightened, took off the 

 gland, and :ound inside a greasy substance, and the packing was in good 

 order. From this he conclude 1 that the valve had not been neglected. He 

 thinks the boiler was sufficiently strong, the plates being thicker than those 

 he had seen in boilers for a similar purp se. His o, inion is that the stay 

 rod was not sulficieiit to coiinteract any sudden expansion of tlie steam, but 

 it is such as is generally made and in use at the present time. It would ha>e 

 been better had there been more stay r.ds. He thought the fink to which it 

 had been attached to the back end, being the one first found, was defective, 

 the same having been bent the wrong way of the iron; had it been bent the 

 right way, it is possible the explosion would not have taken place ; the shell 

 of the boiler he conceives to be as good now as when it first came out of the 

 mtxker's hands. He was of opinion that the plates had never been led hot. 

 It was net possible for explosion to have taken place in case of the plates 

 becoming red hot, unless (?) cold water had been poured upon them, which 

 could not have been the case in this instance, as the p.imp h.id not Lecn 

 worked that morning, the engine not having started. He could not speak 

 with certainty whether, if there ha I not been sufficient wa.er in Ihe boiler, 

 and the boiler had become heatel, the effect upon the water would U sucb 

 as to create explosion before the safety valve could be acted upon. It ii the 

 opinion of some that decomposition of water in a close vessel by heat create* 

 hydrogen, but that could not explode « ithout an admixture of oxygen, and 

 not even then until it was ignited; were it possible for this effect to take 

 place, all the safety valves that could be affixed could not have prevented 

 explosion. He could not risk an opinion as to what has been the c.-.use of 

 the explosion in this case ; it must have been from sudden expansion, but 

 how originating he could not tell. If such e.vplosion had taken place at the 

 stopping of the engine instead of the starling, he should not have fell so 

 much astonished, as engines are repeatedly slopped when the steam is up at 

 the full pressure, which must throw the elastic force instantaneously into 

 the boiler; but in doing this, he has never known explosion to taku place. 

 He does not think there is more danger in high pressure than in lov pressure 

 boilers, provided they are properly attended to, because, from olserntlon. 

 he conceives that the majority of explosions liave been from lo« pressure 

 boilers. He does not think that any add tional valve was necessary in this 

 case, but a second valve is certainly Utter. H,; has frequently U-en oo 

 Messrs. Elce & Co.'s premises, and from what ho has seen, and their ^leneral 

 mode of conducting business, he does not think there is any llame atiribut- 

 able to them. He has measured Ihe boiier. It is 3lt. Ilin. in dr.meter by 

 9ft. 6in. long, being round, and having flat ends, and was capable of workinn 

 from 7 to 8 horses i«)» er. The apparatus attacheil for iiuhciiing the pressure 

 were, a 5,alety valve at the top. with a lever attached to a. Salter's balance, 

 which indicated the pressure per inch by figures engraved on the face of it, 

 and a glass gauge in front indicating the lic.ght of llie steam (water P) but 

 these, except the safetv valve, he has not s.en as they were destroyed by the 

 explosion ; there werc'also two pipes »ilh taps at the ends inserted at the 

 top of the boiler, the one for steam, Ihe o;het for ».aler; if the bjilcr was 

 shortof water, the latter so being oi*iieJ would allow the sic.am to escape. 

 which would be a sufticicnt indication th.U the boiler wanted water. He 

 thinks these, if in good order, were quite sufficient, anil from inquiries be bos 

 made, they were in good order. If cold water ha.l been thrown in amongst 

 Ihestcam whilst the water was boiling, the boiler would have colUpseJ. 

 There is no such appearance about It now. If upon the plales when hot. it 

 would ^create expuniion (?conlr,iclion) — there weie no such apiearances 



