17G KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



fact that it is the proposition of so distinguished an engineer as Capt. Jas. B, 

 Eads, would, of itself, entitle it to a careful consideration. For, as a noted sci- 

 entific journal has said : " He is not a novice in engineering and finance, nor a 

 speculative adventurer, but a scientific and notably practical man, whose large 

 and varied experience in the planning and conducting of great enterprises gives 

 pertinence and weight to any proposition which he may lay before the world." 



In considering the subject, the first question which presents itself is : Is a 

 Ship Railway feasible? The views of distinguished engineers on the point, 

 and a glance at the objections to the road will best enable us to decide this. 



Many of the ablest engineers (whose names could be mentioned if any doubt 

 on the subject made it necessary) tell us that the proposed plan is undoubtedly 

 practicable and give it their warmest approval. 



Secondly, there are practically but two objections that are urged against it. 

 The first, that a ship will be injuriously strained by her passage on the car; the 

 second, that the weight of its own cargo will produce an undue strain when the 

 ship is lifted from the water. 



In the first of these objections we find many causes assigned as likely to pro- 

 duce the injury. To understand their force it will be necessary to describe, as 

 briefly as possible, the road and car upon which the ship will be borne ; and in 

 this description we will endeavor to answer the more reasonable of such objec- 

 tions in detail. For the facts in the case I am largely indebted to the able article 

 of Capt. Eads in the North American Review, and to the March number of the 

 Illustrated Scientific News. 



The road will consist of a series of perfectly straight reaches, all changes in 

 direction being made by means of turn-tables constructed for the purpose ; this 

 prevents the possibility of lateral straining which might be produced in going 

 around curves. 



The track will be composed of twelve rails spaced uniformly five feet apart, 

 by which means the pressure produced by the weight of the ship is transmitted 

 over sufficient surface to prevent any yielding of the road-bed. That this is suffi 

 cient may be conclusively proved by comparison with the actual pressure to 

 which some of our railroads constantly subject their road-beds. It is no uncom- 

 mon thing to have freight trains of one thousand tons weight pass and repass 

 without producing the slightest injury; were six such trains placed side by side 

 on parallel tracks they would fully represent the weight of the largest and most 

 heavily laden ship, and yet the space so occupied covers exactly that over which 

 the car transmits the pressure from the ship, thus happily removing apprehen- 

 sions aroused by another of these objections, viz.: Danger of strains from the 

 depression of the road-bed. 



The car, upon which the ship is to be borne, rests, in the case of the largest 

 ships, upon twelve to fifteen hundred wheels, each two feet in diameter and 

 placed at distances of three feet apart, thus making five tons the greatest pressure 

 any one of them will be required to bear, which is exceedingly moderate, when 

 we consider that the wheels will be made capable of sustaining at least four times 



