I70 AN ELECTRICALLY PROPELLED 



most representative boat, the steamer Grand Republic, was built in 1878; 

 the engine in use on this boat was then taken from another boat, and, 

 while its origin is now uncertain, it is believed to be between fifty and sixty 

 years old. This engine has a cylinder 72 inches in diameter by 12 feet 

 stroke and makes between 16 and 17 revolutions per minute, with 30 pounds 

 steam pressure and a vacuum of 26 inches, developing approximately 1,400 

 horse-power. 



Up to about 1878 the hulls of all excursion and river passenger boats 

 were of wood, but from that time on hulls have been built of steel. Very 

 few have double bottoms or any considerable division of hull by watertight 

 bulkheads, and the superstructures at the present time are of the very 

 lighest wooden construction. 



In other words, while we have made such tremendous advances in all 

 structures on land regarding safety appliances and fireproof features, the 

 excursion passenger steamers upon which during the summer months we 

 send away our women and children have been allowed to remain at a standard 

 of almost one hundred years ago. 



The object of the paper here presented is not only to bring these existing 

 conditions to your attention, but to point out how this class of vessels can 

 and should be brought up to the standards of the present engineering practice 

 as regards propelling power, the construction of the hull, and the fireproofing 

 of the superstructure. 



Regarding the dangers of fire upon water there is little or no necessity 

 for enlarging, as the records of loss of life and property from this cause are 

 conclusive, and it is almost beyond comprehension why the problem has not 

 received more careful consideration long before this. 



The plans herewith submitted show a vessel of approximately the same 

 over-all dimensions and passenger capacity as the steamer Grand Republic, 

 so well known for the last twenty-five or thirty years to the summer traveling 

 public. The hull of the vessel here shown is 275 feet long over all, 260 feet 

 on the water-line with an extreme beam of 68 feet and a moulded breadth 

 at the water-line of 45 feet 8 inches, and is designed to have a displacement 

 of 1,714 tons on a draught of 10 feet. The hull is designed to have a double 

 bottom for a length of 188 feet and double sides carried up to the deck for 

 a length of 109 feet, corresponding to the machinery and boiler space. It 

 is also intended to make the coal bunker space on each side of the boilers 

 with semi-watertight doors, which will add a large additional factor of safety. 

 The design provides for seven watertight bulkheads carried up to the deck 

 and there is no provision for openings; that is, so-called watertight doors 

 through bulkheads are to be entirely eliminated. 



