132 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



April, 



ON THE GORGON EXGIN'E. 



Sir — I bad expected to find in your Febnian number some answer to tbe 

 observations of " Vulcan" inserted in the preceding one ; but, as none has 

 appeared, I am induced to trouble you with a few remarks, in reference to 

 the misrepresentations and fallacies contained in the letter alluded to. 



The writer professes to found his criticisms upon statements contained, 

 as he pretends, in a certain " pamphlet published by Messrs. Seaward and 

 Co." Had this pamphlet been really published and publicly circulated, it 

 would only have been necessary to refer your readers to it, in order to enable 

 them, if they exercised common candour and common sense, to detect at 

 once the errors (to use the mildest form of expression,) which " Vulcan" has 

 thought proper to propagate ; but unfortunately this pamphlet was printed 

 only for private circidation, and I do not think a copy of it can be found at 

 the British Museum or in any of the public collections, except that of the 

 Institute of Civil Engineers.* " Vulcan" appears to have taken advantage 

 of this circumstance to circulate and to attribute to the authors of the pam- 

 phlet statements which he must know, if he has read the work at all, it does 

 not contain ; and it is principally on this account that some expose of his 

 misrepresentations becomes the more necessary. I will endeavour to supply 

 this, taking his different statements seriatim for the purpose. 



He tirst attempts to show that no merit is due to Messrs. Seaward for the 

 introduction of the engine of the description erected in the Gorgon ; and in 

 order to give colour to the detraction, it is pretended that the manufacturers 

 have laid claim to the direct application of the power as a new arrangement 

 of their own. This is, indeed, not expressly stated, but it is obviously meant 

 to be inferred, or why enumerate engines " identical with the Gorgon so far 

 as the direct application of the power ffoes ^ On referring, however, to the 

 pamphlet itself, we find the following passages — " These engines are con- 

 structed on the principle of w/iat is called the direct action ;" and again, " It 

 should be observed, that many engines have been constnicted, prerious to 

 the Gorgon engines, upon the principle of the direct action, bnt the arrange- 

 ments of all those engines have been widely different." These expressly 

 repudiate the claim to the introduction of the " direct action," per se, as an 

 invention of the manufacturers ; but it is well known that tbe arrangements 

 of the minutifc of an inveution often contribute as much towards its success 

 as the principle on which it is founded ; Messrs. Seaward, therefore, may be 

 very well content to confine their claim to the merit of having, by new 

 arrangements, rendered a principle efficient and applicable, which was never 

 before so complete on a large scale. 



For, what are the facts - Marine engines have undoubtedly been con- 

 structed vnth direct action, prior to the date of the Gorgon's, but with what 

 success ? The " Tourist" engines (with the arrangements of the fijred 

 cylinders, " very Hie" Mr. Penn's oscillatiny ones,) never worked well, were 

 removed from the vessel upwards of seven years ago, and common beam 

 engines substituted ; while those of the " United Kingdom," notwithstanding 

 their " considerable improvements," and the assurance the WTiter feels of 

 their " advantage over the Gorgon's," were, according to the best information 

 I can obtain, in actual work only about four years, and are now taken out, 

 the '• splendid ship" itself being converted into a coal deput. At the time of 

 the erection of the Gorgon engine there were no direct action engines of any 

 importance In use : all the makers were constructing tliem upon the beam 

 principle : but since that event what has been the result .- I am informed 

 that Messrs. Seaward alone have fitted eleven large vessels with these li- 

 belled engines, amounting together to about 3000 horses power, with the 

 most perfect success ; and many other firms, among whom may be men- 

 tioned Maudslays and Field, Boulton and M"att,t Miller and Kavenhill, 

 Robert Napier, and Fairbairn & Co., are at the present time constructing en- 

 gines with direct action. All, therefore, that "Vulcan's" instances provei 

 is, that Jlessrs. Seaward are the first who have succeeded in doing what 

 Messrs. Gutzmer, Napier, and all who went before them, were unable to 

 aecomjiHsli, namely, to make the direct action principle successful in prac- 

 tice, and to show that it is capable of realizing the advantages which have 

 indeed heretofore been sought from it, but sought in vain. 



Before noticing the remarks upon the intrinsic merits of the Gorgon 

 engine, I will take the liberty of quoting the passage from Mr. Seaward's 



'^ Nearly the «hii!e of the pamphlet was published in tbe Jonmal for Nov. 

 1840, p. Sf.j, Vol. Ill, and for Feb. 1841, p. 59. Vol. IV.-Kditor. 

 t See engraving of the Virago engines ia the Tebruary No. of the Journal 



pamphlet, in which the advantages are enumerated that this form has. as it 

 is considered, over the beam engine. It runs as follows : — 



" The advantages of the present system arc verj- considerable, and consist 

 of:— 



" 1st. A great saving of space. — .\ pair of Gorgon engines do not occupy 

 much more than one-half the space required for a pair of beam engines of the 

 usual construction. 



" 2nd. A great saving of weight. — The weight of a pair of Gorgon engines 

 is 25 per cent, less than that of a pair of beam engines. 



" 3rd. Greater exemption from accident. — The simplicity of the arrange- 

 ments, and the reduced number of moving parts, necessarily lessen the chance 

 of accident, as also the wear and tear. 



" 4th. Greater security for the engine-men who work the engine. — There 

 being no side levers or beams in movement, the men can move round the 

 engines in every part with perfect safety ; but they cannot do so with beam 

 engines, without much danger. 



" 5th. The tremor and vibration usually experienced in ateam tesseh are 

 almost entirely prevented. — The chief cause of the tremor and vibration 

 observable in steam vessels, is the pumping action of the beams or side levers, 

 which causes a great strain and effort throughout the whole vessel; but there 

 is nothing of this in the Gorgon engines. 



" 6th. A more efficient and economical application of the motive powpr, — 

 resulting from the absence of a large mass of moving matter, and of many 

 joints and bearings, the latter of which especially, is in ordinary engines the 

 cause of much loss of power.'' 



I will leave your readers to compare this with " Vulcan's" paragraph, 

 beginning " In a pamphlet," Sec, and they will see how t'ue writer has 

 adhered to the text in his pretended quotations. It will be desirable to 

 correct such of his statements as may have a tendency to mislead those who 

 have not an opportunity of inquiring for themselves. 



First, then, " Vulcan" denies that the Gorgon engines take up less space 

 than the common ones, and has given your engraver the trouble of copying 

 a " sketch" of the framing of some hypothetical and imaginary beam engine 

 of his own, under the drawing of the Gorgon, for the purpose of substan- 

 tiating his charge. I cannot deny to " Vulcan" the right of " sketching" 

 beam engines in any manner and with any proportions or •' architecture " he 

 may think fit ; but I will beg such of your readers as may take an interest 

 in such matters to refer for comparison, 7tof to " Vulcan's" " sketch," but 

 to authenticated drawings of beam engines in actual existence, or to the en- 

 gines themselves. 



The following table exhibits a comparison of the length occupied by three 

 of the engines upon the direct principle, with three others upon tlie old con- 

 struction, the saving in length being in that part of the ship which is most 

 valuable for stowage of cargo. 



Name of 

 Vessel. 



Description 

 I of Engine. 



Makers of Engines. 



Horse 

 Power. 



Length of 

 Eneine room. 



The saving in iridth is so self-evident as scarcely to need remark, from tbe 

 entire absence of all machinery outside the cylinder. It is this saving which 

 enables vessels fitted with direct action engines to stow such large quantities 

 of fuel on each side of the engine room. 



Then as to the saving in weight, we have " Vulcan's" dictum that 005 tons 

 per horse power is an " ample allowance for beam engines of tbe size of the 

 Gorgon." This is very easy to assert, but not quite so easy to prove ; I would 

 ask him to particularize some engines which are of tliis weight, giving the 

 makers" names, the diameter of the cylinders, Sec, by which we may see that 

 the comparison is fair, and that the horse power is calculated by the same 

 rule as the Gorgon's. It is strongly to be suspected that '• Vulcan" must 

 make use of a higher estimate of the mean pressure upon the piston than the 

 Thames engineers, as tbe Scotch frequently do in calculating the power of 

 their engines ; and if this be so. it is easy to perceive that he may call a cer- 

 tain engine 350 horse power, which in our nomenclature would be only 300, 



