DESCRIPTION OF MACHINERY FOR TRACKING BOATS. 
189 
c, is a whimsey, which may be worked by 
horse or other power, around the drum of 
which is carried the endless chain, d, d, d,d‘, 
this chain is carried across the river or ferry, 
and on the opposite side to that on which the 
whimsey, c, is placed, where the chain is pass- 
ed round an horizontal warve or pulley, d, 
from which it returns to the whimsey, c, in a 
parallel direction to that in which it was car- 
ried across the river, as best seen at fig. 2, 
where, as already stated, the same letters 
indicate the same parts as in fig. 1. Now by 
tracing the revolution of the drum or barrel 
of the whimsey, round which the chain, d, d, 
d, d, is wound, it will be clear that the mo- 
tion imparted to the chain will cause one of 
the parallel lines of the ehain at the bottom 
of the river or ford to move in one direction 
while the opposite line of chain is moving in 
the reverse direetion, as indicated by the 
small arrows placed near the chain in the 
drawing, and also that the direetion of motion 
of the chain must depend on the direction of 
rotation imparted to. the whimsey. The 
bridle, a, a, which holds the ferry boat, a, 
from drifting down the stream, is attached or 
fastened to one of the parallel sides of the 
chain, d, d, d, d, and it is by the motion of the 
chain, d, d, d, d, that the ferry boat, a, is 
tracked or towed from one side of the ferry to 
the other, and returned by the same means 
when the rotation of the whimsey, c, is 
reversed. To prevent the chain, <?, d. d, d, bed- 
ding itself in the sand and to decrease the 
friction experienced in moving it across the 
bed of the river, I have plaeed friction pulleys 
to support it, as represented at /, and also 
four guide pulleys intersecting each other, as 
seen at f, and separate in a front view on a 
large seale at fig. 3, for the purpose of keeping 
the chain, d, d, d, <Z, at the bottom of the 
river or ford. But the necessity, or not, of 
these precautions must greatly depend on the 
extent of the ferry and nature of the bed of 
the river or ford, and must, in all cases be 
left to the judgment of the engineer or parties 
entrusted with the construction of the appa- 
ratus. From the foregoing deseription of 
the annexed drawings it will be seen that 
the ferryboat. A, being held by her bridle, a, 
a, and aeted on by the stream, would partake 
of the property of what is generally called a 
flying bridge, and sheare or move by the 
aetion of the stream on the rudder when placed 
on the proper angle, even supposing the chain, 
d, d, d, d, to remain at rest ; and this 
shearing motion of the boat, A, whieh is 
gained by the action of the stream on the 
rudder, as is well known to seamen and 
persons conversant with marine affairs, 
greatly assists the traverse of the boat across 
the ferry, and thereby greatly diminishes 
the amount of force required to move the 
whimsey, c. It will also be. remarked that, 
in such situations as are affected by the tide, 
I have found it convenient to attach two 
bridles, one to each side of the moving chain, 
with a small buoy to the other, to which this 
boat. A, is attached, whenever the direction 
of the stream is reversed, thereby preventing 
any crossing of the chain, d, d, d, d, which 
would occur if this precaution was not 
adopted. The arrangement and construction 
of the parts shewn at figs. 1 and 2, are the 
most simple, except the placing of a single 
chain or hawser with a whimsey on each 
side of the river, and perfectly efficient where 
the bottom of the ford or river is hard and 
tolerably level, but, in some cases it may be 
required to place a guide for the chain at the 
bottom of the river, which I propose con- 
structing of the form as seen at fig. 4, which 
represents a plan, and fig. 5, a transverse 
section of a tube provided with a longitudinal 
opening or slit. This tube must be confined 
on the bed of the river by piles or other means 
as circumstances may allow. In this position 
it will become a guide for the moving chain, 
d, d, d, d, one part of whieh is passed down 
the interior of the tube, and the position at 
which the boat is attached will be suffiei- 
ently obvious by the letters of reference. 
Although the above description refers to the 
moving or passing a boat across a ferry or 
foi’d, which I have already put in exeeution, 
it will be obvious that a similar arrangement 
of apparatus may be readily applied for the 
purpose to tracking or towing boats on canals, 
through tunnels, and into the flood-gates of 
doeks and similar places ; and in long dis- 
tances, such as passing tunnels, where the 
weight of the moving chain on the bottom 
or bed of the navigation would cause too 
great an amount of friction, I adopt the fol- 
lowing means of lessening it. 
Fig. 6, represents a side view of part of 
a moving chain the links of whieh are pro- 
vided and filled with wood or any other buoyant 
material, the proportion of which to the 
weight of the link of chain may be varied by 
increasing or diminishing the size of the link ; 
I am thus enabled to render a chain either 
totally or partially buoyant, and to diminish 
the amount of frietion in moving such chain, 
inasmuch as its buoyancy is increased. The 
advantages arising from this applieation of 
my invention to ferries, similar to that set 
forth and described at figs. 1 and 2, are, that 
the ferry boat is passed across much readier 
than by the ordinary method and at any time 
of the tide, without impeding the navigation 
of the river or canal, at the same time that 
the natural position which the boat assumes 
with her bows to the stream render the pas- 
sage of the boat much safer in rough weather, 
as well as much easier moved under any cir- 
cumstanees. In traeking or towing vessels 
on canals or under long tunnels, where canals 
occasionally are carried, the partial buoyancy 
given to the chain, as described at fig. 6, will 
so decrease the friction of the chain, used for 
such purposes, as to render the tracking of 
vessels, in such circumstances, more advan- 
tageously and rapidly effected. 
Having described the nature of the inven- 
tion, and the manner in which the same may 
be performed and carried into effect. I hereby 
declare that I do not claim, as of my invention, 
any separate or well known part of the ap- 
paratus or machinery hereinbefore described. 
But I do claim as of my invention, the con- 
struction, arrangement, and adaptation of a 
