Steam Boats. 3 



so, if, as suggested by a correspondent, the boiler were covered also 

 at a proper distance above, and at both ends, by the bulwark or case 

 of timber, leaving only the outside (towards the water,) unprotected, 

 and that side, or a part of it, while it is made sufficiently strong to re- 

 sist any proper pressure, should be decidedly weaker than the other 

 sides, so that if explosion happens, it may spend hs force outwards. 

 The fuel immediately wanted, might be kept on the top of this bul- 

 wark, and the fire might be fed by a communicating gallery, from 

 the outside. The engineers and firemen must always, from the 

 nature of the case, be more exposed than any other persons ; but 

 they will be more careful the more the danger is rendered exclu- 

 sively personal, and the frequency of explosions will on that account 

 be diminished. This subject cannot rest where it is ; additional im- 

 provements are demanded for the public safety, and they will, no 

 doubt, be made.^ 



* Steam Generator of J. O. Blair. — It would seem from an account of a steam 

 generator invented by Mr. J. O. Blair, late of New Orleans, signed by a committee 

 of the Philosophical Society of Cincinnati, that the following advantages are suppos- 

 ed to be attained by this contrivance. 



1. Economy of fuel and simplicity of construction. 



2. In case of explosion, it will, in a steam boat, be outwards and overboard. 



3. The generator will be always supplied with water. 



4. The head of the boiler is nearly dispensed with, as the flue is composed of 

 two cones, joined near the center, and the base of the cone nearly fills the mouth 

 of the cylinder of the boiler. 



5. The weight of the water, and the danger of the adhesion of earthy matter to 

 the boiler, are much diminished. 



6. A hydrostat gives constant information of the quantity of water in the genera- 

 tor and an alarm valve instantly indicates a deticiency of water. 



7. The generator is supplied with water by pumps wrought by a cylinder distinct 

 from that which propels the boat. 



8. Generators twenty inches in diameter are stated to be sufficient for any engine 

 and th-at, if made of good iron one fourth of an inch thick, they will sustain twelve 

 hundred pounds pressure, on the square inch, while only one hundred and twenty 

 will be required. 



9. The rocking of the boat does not uncover the metal so as to expose it to become 

 red hot, as more than live sixths of the surface of the generator may be safely ex- 

 posed to the action of the fire. 



These advantages are too important to be overlooked, provided it should appear on 

 full trial, that they have not been overrated ; and the statement, signed by Calvm 

 Fletcher, J. C. Bush and John S. Talbert has every appearance of being a fair and 

 correct account of the new generator. It is contained in a Cincinnati paper of 

 July 12th, forwarded by Hugh Peters Esq., to the Editor. 



Remark. — An intelligent correspondent sates, as the result of his own inquiries, 

 ihat not less than one thousand and five hundred persons have been destroyed in 

 this country by explosions of steam boilei^s. 



