268 
BULLETIN OF TPIE UNITED STATES PISH COMMISSION. 
Two iron doors, with water-tiglit joints, in the ward-room floor, give access to the pay- 
master’s, navigator’s, and equipment storerooms below, which are in a water-tight 
comiiartment. A scuttle iii the pantry floor leads to the ward-room store-room, also 
a water-tight compartment. A door opens into a locker under the stairs. 
The vessel is lighted throughout by electricity; and artiflcial ventilation is pro- 
duced by means of exhaust fans and conduit pipes to every compartment below the 
main deck. 
The rudder and steering gear: The Albatross was designed to iierform much of 
her work stern to wind and sea, making it necessary to give unusual attention to the 
rudder and its appointments. The several parts are much heavier and stronger than 
usual ill vessels of her size, and the a])pliances for controlling its movements are 
more ])owerful than will be found in steamers of twice her tonnage. 
Rudder attachments: There is a yoke, or quadrant, on the rudderstock a little 
below the main-deck beams, carrying the chains to which the steel-wire tiller ropes 
are connected; an iron tiller on the poop deck, and a yoke for a powerful screw 
steering gear on the upper extremity of the stock, also on the pooj) deck. Projecting 
from the rudder a little above the water line is a short tiller, to which are attached the 
rudder chains ordinarily carried by steamers. 
STEAM STEERING GEAR. 
The steam steering gear, known as Higginson & Co.’s ‘‘steam quartermaster,” 
was built by the Pusey & Jones Company according to the patents and design of Mr. 
Andrew Higginson, of Liverpool, England. The machine may be shifted from steam 
to hand power by the motion of a clutch, and the same wheel is used for steering by 
steam as by hand. Like other improved steam steerers, the valve is arranged to 
revei'se the engine by changing the ports, and an automatic arrangemeut is provided 
to bring the valve to its middle iiosition (and stop the engine) by gearing from the 
engine itself. 
There are three half-trnnk, oscillating, single-acting steam cylinders arranged at 
angles of 120 degrees from each other, all acting on the same crank pin, after the 
“brotherhood” system. The cylinders are inches diameter and 5 inches stroke of 
piston. On the crank shaft is a toothed pinion which gears into a spur-wheel; on the 
shaft of the spur-wheel is keyed a second innion- wheel which gears into a second 
spur-wheel, making the ratio of gearing nearly 36, The second innion and the second 
spur-wheel are keyed to hollow cast-iron shafts, through which the other two shafts, 
respectively, work, 
IMotion is communicated to the tiller chains by a chain holder (or “wild-cat”) 
similar to those used on patent Avindlasses. On the extended portion of the upper 
shaft there is a screw thread on which a large jiut works; this nut is clutched to one 
of the iiiiiions; oil the forward end of the same shaft is placed the steering wheel, 5 
feet 4 inches in diameter. The motion of the steering Avheel communicates like 
motion to the clutch-nut, Avhich, in turn, imparts motion to the slide-valve of the 
engines; and the motion of the engines, transmitted thi'ough the gearing described, 
revolves the clutch nut upon its thread in the opposite direction, and brings the valve 
back to its central position. By this contrivance the engine ceases its motion directly 
the helmsman brings his wheel to rest. The slide-valve is common to the three 
cylinders; it is circular iu form, and revolves upon its center by gearing from the 
