228 [ASSEMPLT 



EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM BOILERS. 



BY JOHN CLOWES, c. E., New York. 



New- York, February 22, 1848. 

 T. B. Waeeman, Esq., 



Superintendent of the American Institute. 



Dear Sir — Your note of yesterday was handed to me this morning. 

 You say " for this year's volume of the transactions of the Institute, 

 it is desirable to have a document on explosions of steam boilers, and 

 other serious accidents to the working-gear, which so frequently 

 occur on board steamboats," and as I was on the committee for exam- 

 ining steamboats, during the last fair, the officers of the Institute 

 respectfully solicit my views on this subject. 



Permit me to say I wish the Superintendent had selected some 

 other member of the committee for a report on this very important 

 scientific subject, whose chemical knowledge and practical experience 

 was superior to anything I possess, particularly so because the yearly 

 volume of the transactions of the American Institute form a sort of 

 encyclopedia, or record of the most valuable improvements and 

 inventions in agriculture, commerce, manufactures and the arts, for 

 the time being. 



The subject you have proposed, is one of no ordinary character. 

 The explosions of steam boilers, bursting of steam chests, and break- 

 ing of the working-gear of the steam engine, frequently cause such 

 a serious loss of life and property, particularly so on the western 

 rivers, where the high pressure engine is in general use, yet these 

 serious accidents too frequently happen to both high and low pressure 

 boilers, and the working-gear of their engines. 



Explosions of steam boilers, burstings of steam chests, and other 

 serious accidents to the working-gear, were of rare occurrence in the 

 early history of the steam engine, while steam of a lower temperature 



