{"1": {"fulltext": "TJ 301\\n.C5 B6\\nCopy 1\\nT\\nBOILER EXPLOSION\\nOF THE MARTIN BOILER ON BOARD THE U S. DOCBLE-ENDER\\nCHENANGO.\\nThe Coroner s Inquest,\\nA FULL REPORT OF THE TESTIMONY, THE CHARGE OF\\nDR. NORRIS TO THE JURY,\\nAND\\nTHE TWO VERDICTS\\nPUBLISHED BY HURD HOUGHTON, 401 BROADWAY,\\nCORNER WALKER STREET.\\n1804.\\n*HSTl-", "height": "4268", "width": "2668", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3995", "width": "2383", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "THE\\nBOILER EXPLOSION\\nOF THE MARTIN BOILER ON BOARD THE U. S. DOUBLE-ENDER\\nCHENANGO.\\nThe Coroner s Inquest,\\nA FULL REPORT OF THE TESTIMONY, THE CHARGE OF\\nDR. NORRIS TO THE JURY,\\nAND\\nTHE TWO VERDICTS\\nJOHN A. GRAY GREEN, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS,\\nFIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS,\\nCORNER OP FRANKFORT AND JACOB STREETS.\\n1864.", "height": "3995", "width": "2383", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "-T3? o\\\\\\nh*\\nY.M\\n60818", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "THE CHENANGO DISASTER.\\nOn the morning of the sixteenth day of April, 1864, Thomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner of Kings County, was summoned to investigate the cause of the\\ndeath of a number of men then lying dead at the U. S. Naval Hospital in\\nBrooklyn. These men were transferred to the hospital from the United\\nStates double-ender gunboat Chenango, one of whose boilers exploded the\\nday previous while on her first passage to sea.\\nThe Coroner, as soon as practicable, summoned the following gentlemen\\nto officiate as jurors, namely\\nABM. INSLEE, Foreman.\\nWm. H. Bigelow, Theodore Ovington,\\nRobert G. Anderson, William Arthur,\\nNorman Hubbard, Thomas Kelly,\\nR. J. Hutchinson, Lancelot Keskup.\\nThe jury, with the Coroner, visited the hospital, where they were em-\\npanneled, and fixed upon the nineteenth day of April to commence their\\nsessions.\\nOn the eighteenth the Coroner wrote the following letter to the Hon.\\nGideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy\\nCoroner s Office, Brooklyn, April 18th, 1864.\\nDear Sir :*The judicial investigation into the circumstances of the late ex-\\nplosion on board the United States ship Chenango will be commenced to-mor-\\nrow p.m., before me and a jury; and as the magnitude of the disaster calls\\nfor a very thorough sifting of the whole affair, I have to ask you to request\\nthe following gentlemen to report to my court for the purpose of testifying\\nin the case, and to remain during the investigation\\nBenj. F. Isherwood, Engineer-in-Chief S. Wilkins Cragg, U. S. ship\\nShamrock George Sewell, Engineer, Boston Navy -Yard W. W. Wood,\\nEngineer Inspector U.S.N. and Mr. Cunningham, 1st Assistant-Engineer,\\nwho, I understand, is now in New- York on special duty.\\nVery respectfully, Thomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner of Kings County.\\nTo Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary U. S. Navy.\\nP. S. I shall be happy to hear any suggestions which the Department\\nmay desire to offer during the inquiry. T. P. N.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "To this the following reply was received by the Coroner. It is dated\\non the twenty-first, but was not received till the twenty -fifth\\nNavy Department, Washington, April 21, 1864.\\nSir: I have received your letter of the 18th inst.\\nThe officers, whose testimony may be desired in the case of the disaster\\nto the Chenango, can be summoned to appear before the Coroner s Court,\\nand they will be required to comply with the summons.\\nVery respectfully, etc.,\\n(Signed) Gideon Welles,\\nSecretary of the Navy.\\nTo Thomas P. Norris, Esq., Coroner, Brooklyn, N. Y.\\nImmediately on receiving this letter, Coroner Norris inclosed a copy of it\\nwith a subpoena to Mr. Isherwood, to which he received the following tele-\\ngram:\\nWashington, April 25th, 1864.\\nTo T. P. Norris, Coroner, Governor s Room, City Hall\\nSubpoena just received. Public business will be inconvenienced if I leave\\nhere before Wednesday morning. Will that time answer Please reply\\nby telegram. (Signed) B. F. Isherwood.\\nTo this the Coroner replied by telegram that Thursday afternoon or even-\\ning would do.\\nOn receipt of this Mr. Isherwood replied as follows\\nWashington, April 26th, 1864.\\nTo Thomas P. Norris, Coroner\\nI will be at the City Hall Thursday afternoon.\\n(Signed) B. F. Isherwood.\\nThursday afternoon came, but Mr. Isherwood did not come. He was in\\nNew- York, however, all that day, as the following letter will sbfcw\\nNavy Department,* Bureau of Steam Engineering, April 29th, 1864.\\nDear Sir I had arrived in New-York, and would have attended your\\ninquest, but was ordered suddenly back to Washington. I barely had time\\nto ask Mr. Everett to make this explanation to you.\\nYour obedient servant,\\nCoroner Norris, Brooklyn, N. Y. B. F. Isherwood.\\nMr. Isherwood arrived in New- York in the morning, and did not leave for\\nWashington till the evening, as the Coroner was informed by Mr. Everett.\\nWhy he refused to visit the court during that day is not explained by his\\nletter, especially after traveling so far for the purpose of testifying.\\nIt is not easy to understand what business Mr. Isherwood could have had\\nto attend to more important than that for which he was ordered to the\\nCoroner s Court.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "TESTIMONY.\\nThe Jury assembled at the Governor s Room, at the City\\nHall, Brooklyn, on the nineteenth day of April, 1864, at three\\no clock in the afternoon, when Coroner Norris addressed them\\nas follows\\nGentlemen You are about to enter upon an investigation\\ninto the circumstances of the recent calamity which occurred\\nupon the United States vessel Chenango. The magnitude of\\nthe results of this disaster has appalled the whole country.\\nThe nature of the questions to be asked and answered in an\\ninvestigation of this kind involves the necessity of placing\\non the Jury men of well-known ability in the sciences to which\\nthese questions refer. It was in view of this fact that I have\\nselected you, gentlemen, to assist me. I feel confident that\\nyou fully appreciate the importance of exercising patience, and\\nof divesting your minds of any preconceived opinions which\\nyou may have formed in regard to the various scientific ques-\\ntions bearing upon this case, so that you may decide upon the\\nfacts as will be given in testimony alone. With these few\\nremarks, gentlemen, we will now proceed.\\nJames F. Sullivan, sworn, says My name is James F. Sulli-\\nvan. I reside in Kent avenue, between Myrtle and Park\\navenue. I am a machinist. I am employed in the IT. S. Navy,\\non board of the gunboat Chenango. I am acting Third As-\\nsistant Engineer. I served my time in Mr. James Bing s shop,\\nand passed an examination in Philadelphia before I got my\\nappointment. I was on board the Chenango on the 14th in-\\nstant, at the time of the explosion. I was in the pilot-house\\nat the time of the explosion. I was not in the engine-room\\nfrom the time we left the Navy Yard until the explosion took", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "place. The explosion I think occurred about a quarter past\\nfour o clock p.m. I went below as soon as I heard the ex-\\nplosion, and on my way down I met Mr. Cahill, the Chief En-\\ngineer, at the head of the stairs on deck. He asked me to get\\nhim a drink of water. I then went below and stopped the en-\\ngine. I had not observed any thing unusual about the working\\nof the engine every thing was working easily. After stopping\\nthe engine I tried the cocks on both boilers, and found no\\nwater in either toiler. I also looked at the steam-gauges, and\\nfound that they had been turned back to nothing. Mr. Cahill,\\nbefore death, said that he thanked Grod that he had two and\\na half gauges of water in the boiler. When I shut the in-\\njection-valve and the outboard-delivery, I returned to the fire-\\nroom, and ordered one of the Master s mates to take a lantern\\nand see where the water that was coming through the deck\\nwas coming from. I had the ash-pit doors closed and the\\nconnection and furnace doors open, and started to draw the\\nfires. When the ship first went in commission on the 29th\\nday of March, 1864, or February, the weather was quite cold,\\nand we got up steam on the port-boiler to heat the wardroom\\nand Captain s cabin. We kept steam on the boiler for about\\na week during that time the boiler leaked so badly that we\\nmarked all the places where it leaked with chalk. There was\\ntwo tubes that leaked. We then got up steam on the other\\nboiler. The following day Mr. Cahill sent me to the Morgan\\nIron Works, to let them know the state the boiler was in, and\\nrequested them to send a man over to repair it. They did not\\nsend a man over for several days; we had to put our own\\nmen on to repair it, before the men from the Morgan\\nWorks arrived. We had repaired the leaks in the port-boiler\\nbefore the men arrived, and set the men from the Morgan\\nWorks on the starboard-boiler. We then went and examined\\nthe other boiler, and found that it leaked still, and directed the\\nmen to go to work on it. They went to work on it, and cut\\ntwo tubes out, and put in two new ones. They also caulked\\nit wherever we had marked it. We then started our donkey-\\npump to put a water-pressure on it, and could get but twenty\\npounds. I do not know why, except the boiler leaked. We\\ncould not get the pressure on the boiler on the starboard-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "boiler we got from forty to forty-five pounds of water-pressure.\\nI recollect hearing the engineer, Mr. Cahill, say, that he had a\\ngood engine, but a pair of kettles, meaning the boilers. Mr.\\nMurray, the senior Second Assistant Engineer, always said he\\nwas afraid of the boilers. He gave no reason, only that we\\nwere always tinkering at them. None of the engineers had a\\nchance to see the boilers while they were building. I am the\\noldest engineer attached to the ship. Mr. Cahill did not make\\nthe remark about the water in the boiler to me, but to the Sur-\\ngeon of the ship. I was not present during the trial of the\\nengines of the ninety six hours trial. I was in and out during\\nthe trial, but took no observations of the trial. The feed-pipe\\nis a cast-iron pipe, about five inches in diameter. There was\\none check-valve on each boiler between the pumps. It was\\nimpossible for the water to pass from one boiler to another if\\nthe valves are shut. There is a main pipe connecting the two\\nboilers. My reason for not expecting to find any water in the\\nboiler, was owing to the large size of the pipes. I am not\\nquite positive that there was water in the starboard-boiler when\\nI tried the gauge after the explosion. I have not taken any\\nwater from the starboarcUboiler. I have charge of the engine\\nat the present time, and have orders not to touch any thing,\\nand do not know what the condition of the boiler is. The\\nwater now remaining in the boiler would indicate the amount\\nof water at the time of the explosion. We have, on several\\noccasions, at night, pumped the glass gauge full, and in the\\nmorning there would be no water there. Some of the water\\nwould evaporate, but not enough to make it entirely disap-\\npear from the gauge. The engineers in charge of the boilers at\\nthe time of the explosion were sober. The reason I said I\\ndid not expect to find water in the starboard-boiler was, that\\nI did not know there was a dry pipe on the inside of the\\nboiler. James F. Sullivan.\\nSworn to before me this 19 tb\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "8\\nr T. Scott Fillehrown, sworD, says: I am Lieutenant command-\\ning in the U. S. Navy, commanding the steamer Chenango. I\\ntook command on the 14th of November, 1863. She was then\\nin the hands of the contractors of New-York. I left the Navy\\nYard on the 15th instant, between two and three o clock, for\\nSandy Hook, for the purpose of accompanying the Onondaga\\nto the blockade. The accident happened about four p.m.,\\nwhen we were about opposite Fort Hamilton. I had just\\nstepped on deck from the engine-room at the time of the ex-\\nplosion. I had been in the engine-room twice since leaving\\nthe yard. Mr. Cahill, the Chief Engineer, was in charge of the\\nengine. When I was down in the engine-room, I asked Mr.\\nCahill how the engine was running he replied that it was\\nworking beautifully, and that he was satisfied with the work-\\ning of the engine. I did not notice any of the indicators. I\\ndid not have any other conversation with Mr. Cahill at this\\ntime. At the time of my first visit, when about opposite Gov-\\nernor s Island, I noticed the steam-gauge it showed twenty-\\nfive pounds of steam. I had perfect confidence in Mr. Cahill,\\non account of his previous reputation, and his general atten-\\ntion to his duties. My impression ie that there is no blame\\nto be attached to any of the officers of the ship for the explo-\\nsion. I have no reason for attaching any blame to any one.\\nAt the time I left Mr. Cahill to come on deck, he was at the\\nfoot of the ladder, near his desk. He was about fifteen feet\\nfrom the boiler when I left him. At my last visit to Mr.\\nCahill, I remarked to him that when I got on deck where the\\nPilot was, I would time the ship, and see how long it would\\ntake to run to the buoy this side of Sandy Hook. I do not\\nknow the amount of steam on the boiler at the time of the ex-\\nplosion. I think the ship was running about eight knots at\\nthe time of the explosion. We were running against the tide.\\nI had an impression that the ship when put to her speed would\\nmake about fourteen miles. Mr. Cahill said, the pressure of\\nsteam would reach forty or forty-five pounds to drive the ship\\nat her speed. I asked Mr. Cahill if he had a good draft; he\\nsaid he had; there was no occasion to use the blowers. I have\\nheard Mr. Cahill say that it had been necessary to take out", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "9\\nsome tubes on account of leakage. Never heard him express\\nany fears of the boilers. T. Scott Fillebrown.\\nSworn to before me this 19th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. JSTorris,\\nCoroner.\\nThomas F. Brentman, sworn, says I am a patient in the Ma-\\nrine Hospital. I am a painter by trade. I rendered the scald-\\ned men all the assistance I could when they were brought in.\\nI have had conversation with William Ware, one of the scald-\\ned men. I asked him if there was any thing the matter with\\nthe boilers he replied that he thought it would be so, as they\\nwere tinkering them from the time they got steam up until\\nshe blew up. Thomas F. Brentman.\\nSworn to before me this 19th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nHenry K. Donovan, sworn, says I am the apothecary at\\nthe Naval Hospital. I had some conversation with Mr. Mur-\\nray, one of the second Assistant Engineers of the Chenango.\\nAfter getting through, the worst of the cases, I went through\\nthe ward and saw Mr. Murray. I asked him what time the\\naccident occurred he said about four o clock. He said some-\\nthing about feeling uneasy, but I am not certain whether he\\nalluded to the boiler or to his own condition.\\nHenry K. Donovan.\\nSworn to before me this 19th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nInvestigation adjourned to the 20th inst., at 3 p.m.\\nWednesday, April 20th.\\nThe investigation was resumed at 3 o clock, by Dr. Goodhue\\nbeing placed on the stand.\\nDavid P. Goodhue, sworn, says I am Acting Assistant Sur-", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\ngeon in the United States Navy Department, attached to the\\nship Chenango. I was on board when the accident occurred.\\nI saw Mr. Cahill and Mr. Murray both after the accident, I\\nhad no conversation with them in regard to the condition of the en-\\ngine or boiler. I never conversed with them about the safety\\nof the boiler. There was thirty -five men scalded as far as I\\nknow. Up to the 19th instant there had been twenty-four\\ndeaths. The deaths were caused by being scalded on the ship\\nChenango. I know nothing in regard to the explosion or its\\ncauses. Tne habits of the engineers, as far as I had seen, were\\ngood they were strictly temperate.\\nDavid P. Goodhue, M.D.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. JSTokris,\\nCoroner.\\nGeorge W. Quintard, sworn, says I am the proprietor of the\\nMorgan Iron Works. I had the contract to build the boilers\\nof the ship Chenango from the Bureau of the Steam Engineer-\\ning of the Navy Department. Benjamin F. Isherwood .is the\\nChief of the Bureau. 1 was furnished the specifications for\\nplans, iron, etc. The accompanying schedule is the quality\\nof iron, and the quantity used in the construction of the\\nboilers. I have every reason to believe that the order I gave\\nfor the iron was faithfully executed. I think that Wallace\\nBuckley furnished the iron, but am not sure the trade-marks\\nwill show who furnished the iron. [The specifications shown\\nto the jury.] I gave orders that the boilers be constructed\\nstrictly in accordance with the specifications. I think the\\nstay iron was Ulster iron I do not know from whom the iron\\nwas purchased. The boilers were properly tested after being com-\\npleted at sixty pounds hydraulic pressure. There is no certificate\\nto that effect we never take a certificate. TJie Government\\nEngineer was present when the boilers were tested. S. Wilkins\\nCraig is the Government Engineer. I have no idea what caused\\nthe explosion. I heard of no complaints in reference to the\\nboilers leaking. Mr. Cahill told me a few days before he went\\nto sea that the boilers were very good, and with some little", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\ncaulking would be tight; he said he would have this done at\\nthe Navy Yard. The boilers had steam on for ninety-six hours\\nprevious to leaving my place, and were accepted at that time by the\\nGovernment Engineer. John Walker was foreman of the boiler-\\nshop at the time the boilers of the Chenango were constructed.\\nThe boilers are Martin s patent. I am not competent to give\\nan opinion as to the difference between the Martin and Mont-\\ngomery boiler. The acceptance of the boilers by the Government\\nrelieves me from all responsibility. George W. Quintard.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nGeorge B. Mott, sworn, says I am Acting Ensign of the\\nUnited States ship Chenango. I was on board at the time of\\nthe explosion. I had a conversation with Engineer Murray\\nafter leaving the Navy Yard, on the day we went to sea. The\\neffect of the conversation was that the boilers were not in a fit\\ncondition to go to sea. He said they had repeatedly sent to\\nthe Morgan Works for men to repair them, but could not get\\nthem, and had to put his own men on them to repair them.\\nIn answer to a question as how he would overtake a prize, he\\nanswered that he would do all he could, but that he had a poor\\npair of kettles, meaning the boilers. He always made the same\\nremarks ever since the ship had been in commission. Mr. Ca-\\nhill conveyed to me, although not in direct terms, the fact that\\nthe boilers were not what they should be. George B. Mott.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nJohn Walker, sworn, says I reside at 1162 Broadway, New-\\nYork. I was formerly employed at the Morgan Iron Works,\\nas foreman of the boiler-shop. I superintended the building\\nof the boilers up to the 15th of June, 1863, when I left, I\\nthink the boilers were properly constructed up to the time I\\nleft. I worked from the drawings furnished me from our office.\\nI think the men in the office worked from the Government draw-", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nings. I supposed that I was working from drawings and plans\\nfurnished by the Government The lugs on the sides of the tube-\\nboxes were riveted. The specifications give no size for the lugs.\\nI made them from my own judgment. The angle-iron was on\\nthe boilers when I left. I made it according to the drawings\\nit was three and a half by three and a half, and one half inch\\nthe iron was punched according to the specifications, every\\ntwo and a half inches. The brace-holes were three quarters of\\nan inch in diameter, and ten inches apart. The entire length\\nof the T iron was eighteen feet; the bar, including the curve,\\nwas about twenty-five feet long there was eight bars on the\\nboiler the boiler was ten feet nine inches in depth. There\\nwas but two bars running from each tube-box, making eight\\nin all on the T rail, making sixty-four up and down braces in\\nthe boiler. The size of the upright bar were given to me.\\nThe rivets in the lugs were two and three quarter rivets. The\\nlugs I put in the boiler were two and five eighths inches, with\\ntwo and three quarter rivets a three-quarter hole was punched\\nfor the rivets I think the hole was punched cold. The stays\\nwere of the same size that I have put in all of the Martin boilers I\\nhave built think I have built eighteen of them. There was\\nfive and one eighth of an inch on each side of the rivet on the\\nupright bar. There were as many stays as the specifications called\\nfor. The two and three quarter rivets were supposed to hold\\nthe double bearing on the roof. There was double the strength\\non the roof to what there was on the tube-box. It would have\\nbeen stronger if the braces had been attached to the tube-box\\nby a half-moon brace. The boilers were made the same as\\nboilers have been made before. The iron now shown appears\\nto have been used as a lug, and is such a one as was put in the\\nChenango boilers. In staying boilers the braces are put ac-\\ncording to the amount of steam required to be carried, I was\\ninstructed to make the boiler bear a pressure of sixty pounds to the\\nsquare inch, cold water. I place the braces every eight inches square s\\nfor sixty pounds of steam. I can not tell the number of square\\ninches on this boiler surface. There is thirteen thousand eight\\nhundred and sixty square inches of flat surface in the boiler.\\nIn a surface braced every eight inches, it would give two hun-\\ndred and sixteen braces to the boiler. The plan of this boiler", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "13\\nwould not admit of braces being put in this way, in consequence of\\nthere being no way of getting through the lube-boxes this is the\\nGovernment plan, not mine. Thirteen thousand eight hundred\\nand sixty inches multiplied by sixty pounds of pressure, gives\\neight hundred and thirty-one thousand six hundred pounds on\\na flat surface that divided by sixty-four, the number of stays,\\nwould give each stay a pressure of six and a half pounds, ex-\\ncept what fell on the T iron. consider the brace adequate to\\nsustain six and a half tons weight. I do not know of any acci-\\ndents that have occurred on boilers constructed on the same\\nplan as the one in question. I am not certain what quality of\\niron was put in the boiler, by reason of not noticing the brand\\nof the iron. I do not know whether Ulster iron was used in\\nthe boiler or not. I do not know any thing in relation to the\\nquality of the stay iron. The plate iron was good there was\\nsome of them thrown out that is flange iron. The specifica-\\ntions for the boiler were made out in the drawing-room by Mr.\\nCoryell. The qualities of the iron were stamped on the plate\\naccording to specification. I am not quite sure that the brand\\nwas on all the plates. I do not remember seeing any cracks\\nin the plate caused by riveting or driving the pin in. The\\nworkmanship on the boiler I considered good. 1 have not a\\nvery good opinion of the Martin boiler in connection with any other\\nboiler, on account of the difficulty in bracing them. It is impossi-\\nble to brace them properly. I have another objection to them.\\nThey are a bad boiler to repair in case a tube gives out you have\\nto haul fires, cool the boiler, and either plug the tubes or put new ones\\nin. I suppose the roof is made high for the purpose of getting\\nthe tubes out. The longer they stay in a boiler the weaker it\\nbecomes. I think the Martin boilers are more liable to foam than\\nany other boiler. I think there is more liability of the water\\nbeing driven from the sheets on account of excessive heat in\\nthe Martin boiler than in any ordinary boiler. I do not con-\\nsider the builder to blame for any extra foaming where the di-\\nmensions are given. The boiler was constructed according to\\nthe specifications of the Government. I was surprised to hear\\nthat the boiler had exploded at the amount of steam-pressure\\non at the time. I think it would be impossible to burst the boiler\\nat a pressure of thirty-six or even forty-six pounds, if it had been", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\ntested at sixty pounds hydrostatic pressure. A toiler will stand\\nmore pressure from hot water than it will from cold water. The\\nbraces on the flat surface of the boiler were closer than the specifica-\\ntions called for. John K. Walkee.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to half-past seven p.m.\\nInvestigation resumed at 7.40 p.m.\\nLoitis Shearding, sworn, says I reside at 583 Fourth street,\\nNew- York. I am a boiler-maker, employed at the Morgan\\nWorks. I am foreman of the shop. I took John Walker s\\nplace. The boilers were finished when I went there, with the\\nexception of putting in the dry pipes, and riveting on the\\nman-holes. I found every thing correct about these boilers,\\nwhen I took charge of them. I did not see any bad iron or\\nbad spots in the boiler the flanges were all good. I did not\\nnotice the bracing of the boiler. I fitted up the boiler under\\nMr. Walker. I regarded the boiler a good one when it left the\\nshop. It was put up as well as any boiler that ever left the\\nshop. I do not know any thing about the quality of the iron\\nused in bracing, previous to my taking charge of the shop, as\\nI never took notice of it. They are using the best quality of\\niron in the shop, since I took charge. I do not know where\\nthe iron comes from. I saw the boiler tested with cold water\\npressure. On the first trial they put on a pressure of fifty-four\\npounds. It was put on with a pump of three or four inch\\nplunger. The first time we had to keep constantly pumping\\nto keep the pressure on. The boiler that exploded was the\\none I had reference to. On the second test we got fifty-eight\\npounds pressure on the boiler. The boiler stood the pressure first\\nrate on the second trial. I have seen the boiler with steam on.\\nI saw the steam-gauge. The first time I saw it there was twen-\\nty-four pounds, and the second time they had twenty-six\\npounds. I went aboard the ship to see if the boilers leaked\\nthey required some caulking here and there and found every", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nthing all tight on opening the furnace-doors. I have not seen\\nthe boiler since the explosion. I went all through the toilers,\\nand found every thing all right. If I had found any of the braces\\nout of place, I would have had them fixed. I could not give any\\nopinion about the braces being out of place. I would split\\nthe pin if it was not tight in the hole. If it was tight, and in its\\nproper place, I would do nothing with it. One of the engineers\\nof the ship came and asked me to send a man over to the yard,\\nto caulk the boilers, which I done. After the boiler was\\ncaulked, one of the engineers said it was all right. He sent\\nafter the same man to come a second time, and I sent him.\\nI had no conversation with Mr. Cahill, in relation to the boil-\\ners. There was nothing but caulking done when I sent a man\\nfrom the shop. Louis Shearding.\\nSworn to before me this 20th j\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nWilliam Finney, sworn, says I reside at No. 6 Manhattan\\nstreet, New- York. I am a master boiler-maker. There was a\\npiece of the iron of one of the boilers of the Chenango placed\\nin my possession for testing. The piece was taken from the\\ntop of the boiler at the point of fracture, and included the\\nrupture. My blacksmith tested the iron. The process of test-\\ning was heating the iron, and drawing it out, and turning a\\npoint on it. The iron in question answers the quality called\\nfor in the plans and specifications of Mr. Quintard. It was\\nlaid on an anvil, and hit several blows rapidly, whilst cold. If\\nit had been common English iron, it would have broken off.\\nThe iron is as good as that usually put in steam-boilers. It is\\nas good iron as should be used, generally speaking. I exam-\\nined the boiler outside it is the usual thickness for that size\\nboiler. I have examined the boiler sufficiently to come to a\\nconclusion as to the cause of the explosion. My impression is\\nthat the cause of the explosion was, that there was a greater\\npressure of steam than the boiler could bear, and the weakest\\npart gave way. I have seen enough about the boilers and\\ngauges to lead me to believe that there was an excess of pres-", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "16\\nsure on the boilers. I would consider eighty or ninety pounds\\na sufficient amount of pressure to cause the explosion. The\\ngeneral appearance of the inside and outside of the boiler, the\\nmanner in which the sheets and braces were pulled asunder,\\nled me to the conclusion that there had been from eighty to\\nninety pounds of pressure on the boiler at the time of the explo-\\nsion. I have not examined the mercury-gauge. There was\\nnothing in the color of the iron that assisted me in coming to\\nthe conclusion I did. I looked at the braces casually on Sun-\\nday. The workmanship and materials of the boiler in question\\nwill compare favorably with boilers built at any other shop.\\nThe brace in question connects the T iron together. The brace\\nnow shown might have been joined together at the top of the\\nboiler. The English method of tying flat surfaces overhead\\nis the same as our own by braces. The stays gave way first\\nin the explosion in my opinion, the weakest part of the boiler\\nis the greatest space between the braces, on the flat surface.\\nThe roof could give way without the stays giving way the\\nrivets may give way, and leave the stays in their proper place.\\nI can not tell which gave way first, the roof or the stays, as\\none instantly followed the other. The boiler is stayed on the\\nsides with socket-bolts, or tap-bolts. I think the side of the\\nboiler was the strongest, from the fact of its not giving way. I\\ngenerally leave a space of six inches in a locomotive-boiler. If\\nI had a flat space of ten feet surface on a boiler to stand a\\npressure of sixty pounds, I would put the braces eight inches\\napart. I would place them further apart on particular occa-\\nsions. In my judgment, the top of the boiler was sufficiently\\nbraced to bear the pressure intended to be carried. I did not\\nmeasure the distance between the braces. If the flat surface\\nwas not braced, and a pressure was put on to raise the centre\\nthree or four inches, it would, of course, damage the boiler.\\nThe braces could have been put closer together. It takes about\\ntwenty-five or thirty minutes on a locomotive-boiler. It would\\ntake about one hour, under favorable circumstances, to get\\ntwenty-five pounds of steam on the boiler that exploded. It\\nmight instantly run up from twenty-five pounds to eighty or\\nninety pounds. I did not hear Captain Fillebrown testify yes-\\nterday. The engineer might have opened the throttle-valve,\\nas soon as the captain left him. The result would be a certain", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "17\\nrising of the water, and, falling bach to its former position,\\nwould cause instantly an increase of pressure beyond the strength\\nof the boiler to resist, and an explosion might instantly follow. In\\nmy opinion, a Martin boiler is not any more liable, judging\\nfrom the number that has been built, to cause accidents than any\\nother boiler. A flue-boiler would be less liable to foam than a\\nMartin boiler. The boilers are made low from necessity. The\\nspace from the ivater-line to the roof is higher in other boilers than\\nin the Martin boiler. The water is not so easily carried off in\\nother boilers as it is in the Martin pattern. In the merchant\\nservice we are not confined to the height of steam chimneys.\\nThe reason why water escapes when foaming takes place in these\\nboilers is, because the dry pipe is closer to the water-line than\\nit is in other boilers in the merchant service; and where there\\nis a difficulty in getting up a supply of water, this upper waste\\nof water is greater than the supply. Under these circumstances,\\nthe water will certainly get low in the boiler. If the water came\\nover with the steam, the engine would indicate it. It would\\nhave a trembling motion. A few rivets or caulking leaking is\\nno evidence of a boilers weakness. The damage to the wood-\\nwork is about the same as I expected to find it. The water-gauge\\nin a boiler that foamed would not indicate truly the amount of\\nwater in the boiler. There is no doubt but that the boiler was\\nfoaming at the time of the explosion. The furnace-tops do not\\nindicate that they were red hot. A boiler will sometimes foam,\\nand the furnaces not indicate it. I would not consider the\\nbuilder at fault, if he complied with the specifications.\\nWilliam Finney.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. ISToeris,\\nCoroner.\\nThomas S. Cunningham, sworn, says I am a First Assistant\\nEngineer in the United States Navy. I was acquainted with\\nMr. Cahill, one of the engineers of the Chenango. I had con-\\nversation with him in regard to the boilers of the ship. He\\nwas apprehensive of trouble with the tubes of the boiler. The\\ntubes formed a heating surface. He said he had found one of\\n2", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "18\\nthem had been cracked in the expanding of it. It is a trouble-\\nsome matter to stop a leak in one of the tubes, and the water\\nfrom them would stop the draft. He did not speak of any\\nother faults about the boilers. A danger might arise from the\\nleakage of the tubes, but I never anticipated any.\\nThomas S. Cunningham.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to Thursday, April 21st, at three p.m.\\nExamination resumed at 3.15, Thursday, April 21st, 1864.\\nW. W. Wood, sworn, says I am a Chief Engineer in the\\nUnited States Navy. I had a general supervision of the boiler\\nnow under consideration, in connection with the construction\\nof the machinery. My instructions were to have them con-\\nstructed, both as to material and workmanship, in the most\\nthorough manner, in conformity with the specifications addi-\\ntional to which I received instructions from the Secretary of\\nthe Navy, through the General Superintendent of Contracts,\\nin relation to the bracing of all boilers under my inspection\\nbeing constructed for the Navy Department, in reference par-\\nticularly to the bracing, which I communicated to the Local\\nInspector. This is a copy of the letter from me to Mr. Zeller,\\nthe Local Inspector, under whose directions the boilers for the\\nChenango were constructed. I also received sketches of all\\nthe braces used in bracing the boilers.\\nI have never seen the boiler in question. The pressure for\\nany number of stays less than seventy-nine would be addition-\\nal to the number less seventy-nine. I can answer the question\\nin relation to the fact of the boilers being more closely braced\\non the side of the boiler than on the top, by looking at the\\nspecifications. [Specifications sent for.] I have not seen the\\nrapture in the boiler. think it is not possible to blow up a\\nboiler with less pressure than sixty pounds, after the boiler has\\nstood a cold-water pressure of sixty pounds.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "19\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If the boilers of the Chenango did bear a\\ncold-water pressure of sixty pounds, and then were used in\\nthe ordinary way for four days, is it possible to blow up with\\nless than sixty pounds\\nA. Not with the same conditions under which they sustain-\\ned a sixty-pounds pressure.\\nQ. (by Juror,) According to your calculations, about how\\nmuch pressure per square inch would carry away the stays\\nA. If the iron of which the stays were made was capable\\nof sustaining a strength of fifty thousand pounds section-inch\\nof area, tbey should bear safely one-sixth of that strain, which\\nwould be 8333 T Vo pounds. They could bear this safely, and\\nmight probably bear fifty thousand pounds. Eepeated strains\\non the brace would tend to make them yield after the max-\\nimum degree of tension they were capable of sustaining was\\nreached.\\nQ. (by Juror.) The brace being brought up near the breaking\\npoint, do you think it would continue to bear that strain\\nA. Not after absolute yielding had taken place.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think the riveted lug to the side of the\\ntube-box was at all adequate to sustain the strain from the four\\npoints on the roof of the boiler\\nA. The relative strain in these several points of contact in\\nthis brace, so far as resisting the strain imparted to them, will\\nbe to each other as their various cross-sections. The section\\nof metal in the lower brace which yielded is inferior or less\\nthan the sections in the upper attachments.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think that the lower portion of the\\nbrace attached to the side of the tube-boxes adequate to sus-\\ntain the amount of strain that the points of attachment above\\nwould sustain\\nA. I think not.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you not think that an arch-stay riveted at\\ntwo points would not have been much stronger\\nA. It would be stronger, in proportion, to any increased\\nsection.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Looking at this rupture, would you in future\\nrecommend people to use such a stay as the one in question\\nA. I should recommend a modification in this method of", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "20\\nbracing at this particular point. However, at thirty-five pounds\\nworking pressure I should think this method reliable.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Did the rupture, in your opinion, precede\\nor succeed the parting of the stays\\nA. My impression is that the stays yielded an instant, or\\nperhaps an inappreciable amount of time, preceding the rup-\\nture of the shell.\\nQ. (by Juror.) If the fracture of the stays preceded the rup-\\nture in the roof, does it not follow that the rupture in the roof\\nwas not the cause of the explosion\\nA. The cause of the explosion, in my opinion, was from a\\npressure accumulated in the boiler greater than what could be\\nsustained by the stays and bracing, and of necessity the rup-\\nture was the result, as before stated in a previous answer\\nthe stays yielded momentarily preceding the rupture in the\\nshell.\\nQ. (by Juror.) From your general experience of the Martin\\nboiler with vertical tubes and fire outside of the tubes, and\\nwhat is known as the Monitor boiler, with horizontal tubes\\nand fire inside of the tubes, in your opinion is the one boiler\\nany more dangerous than the other\\nA. In properly constructed boilers of either type, I should\\nconsider little or no difference, in equal management.\\nWilliam W. Wood.\\nSworn to before me this 20th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nMiers Coryell, sworn, says I reside at 322 East Sixteenth\\nstreet, New-York. I am a machinist and engineer. I was in\\nthe employ of the Morgan Iron Works at the time the boilers\\nin question were constructed. I had the general superintend-\\nence of them. The boilers were tested in my presence. The\\ntesting was superintended by Mr. Craig, the Government\\nEngineer, by hydraulic pressure. The boilers were subjected\\nto a pressure of fifty -eight pounds on a gauge above the top of the\\nsteam chimney, giving about sixty-five pounds at tJie bottom of the\\nboiler. The boiler stood the test, which was witnessed by Mr.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "21\\nCraig. I saw the boiler afterward, with steam on, at the dock.\\nI believed them ample to sustain three times the required pressure,\\nwhich, I think, was thirty-five pounds.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Would not the steam whistling out of the\\nmercury-gauge give sufficient indications that the pressure\\nwas above fifty pounds\\nA. Some of the mercury would be blown out also, and the\\nsteam would certainly make a noise. There is about twenty-\\ntwo pounds of mercury in the gauge. I do not know that the\\nmercury was blown out of the gauge, as I have not seen it\\nsince the explosion. Miers Coryell.\\nSworn to before me this 21st\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nS. Wilkins Craig, sworn, says I am a Second Assistant En-\\ngineer in the United States Navy. I was ordered to superin-\\ntend the testing of the Chenango s boilers. In obedience to a\\nclause in the specifications, the test must be in presence of a\\nGovernment Inspector. I personally inspected the boilers.\\nThe order was to test them at sixty pounds which is twenty-five\\npounds more than they are permitted to carry. The boilers were\\ntested twice the first time we had a gauge on the top of the\\nsteam chest it is customary to place the gauge on the bottom\\nbut it was handier, and we made allowance for the difference\\nin the height of the column of water, about seven pounds.\\nThe boilers did answer the requirements of the specifications and I\\nreported to the Navy Department favorably. I saw the boilers\\nwith steam on. I think twenty-seven pounds was the highest\\npressure on them.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Can you tell whether the braces were\\nplaced in the boiler, according to the specifications\\nA. I received the boilers after the steam chests were com-\\npleted and most of the braces in. I examined the boilers to-\\nday, and they are not braced according to the specifications.*\\nThe braces for each piece of T iron were fastened to one lug\\nThis witness contradicts himself on a very important point. The reader must\\njudge whether he was influenced by fear of the powers that be while on the stand,\\nor was wrong in his opinion of the capacity of the boiler while inspector.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "22\\non one tube-box, instead of two lugs on each tube-box. It\\nwould have increased the strength of the braces had it been\\nput in according to the specifications but if the lug, riveted\\nas it has been on the boiler, had been equal to the strength of\\ntwo lugs, the strength would have been nearly equal to that\\nrequired for such a brace. The piece shown is not equal to\\nthe strength of the two braces. S. Wilkins Craig.\\nSworn before me this 21st\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Morris,\\nCoroner.\\nHenry Mason, sworn, says I reside at 23 Scammel street,\\nNew-York City. I am a machinist and engineer. I had\\ncharge of the Chenango on her trial of ninety-six hours. I\\nhad a great deal of trouble in keeping water in the boiler on the\\ntrial the water ivorked out of the boiler. Sometimes it would\\ntake the third of the cylinder of water out. I have had it dis-\\ncharge so heavily as to stop the momentum of the engine. The wa-\\nter went into the condensers, and from there into the air-pump, and\\nfrom there it went overboard. The discharge at sometimes would be\\nhalf the size of the delivery -hole, and then it would not discharge\\nagain for two or three hours. The water struck the piston. The\\ndeficiency is made up by salt-water communication, and from\\nthe salt-water part of the condenser to the fresh-water part. I\\nburnt about eighteen tons of coal in twenty-four hours on the\\ntrial. The engines made about eight and a half revolutions^\\nminute, with a pressure of twenty-five pounds to the square\\ninch.\\nIndicator diagrams were taken to show the horse power, by\\nMr. Bell, a draughtsman in the Morgan Iron Works, i filled\\nthe mercury- gauge full, until it run over. After we fill the\\ngauge we tie a string to the brass indicator, and place it to\\nzero on the scale. I consider the boiler not safe in ordinary\\nhands, as the heating surface is too great for the quantity of water\\ncontained in the boiler. We had to blow off salt water occasion-\\nally. The engine has the surface-condenser. The object of\\nthe condenser is to transform all the steam into water, and re-\\nturn it to the boiler again this condenser accomplished this\\nobject to a certain extent.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "23\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If the boiler foamed so as to fill the\\ncylinder one third every stroke, would not that have been\\nsufficient to smash the engine, or prevent her from turning her\\ncentre\\nA. It is sufficient to stop the engine completely.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If the water from foaming came into the cyl-\\ninder, one inch within the range of the stroke, would that not\\nbe a proper cause for stopping the engine\\nA. The relief-valves would relieve it sufficiently to let her\\npass over the centre. I would not continue to work the engine\\nunder such circumstances.\\nQ. by the Coroner. When there are dry pipes inside the\\nboiler, does not that in a great measure counteract the rushing\\nof water and steam into the cylinder?\\nA. It does in a measure. I was on board the Chenango last\\nSaturday afternoon, and looked at the upper part of shell. I\\ndid not look at it sufficiently to enable me to form any opinion\\nas to the cause of the explosion. I did not look at the mer-\\ncury-gauge. As an engineer, I have thought the explosion\\nwas caused by an insufficiency of water in the boiler, which\\nmight have been caused by water being discharged into the\\ncondenser from the boiler. Another cause is that the engin-\\neer might have thought that he had feed-water, whilst the\\nleakage in the boiler would waste a portion passing overboard.\\nA skillful and attentive engineer would not have been -likely\\nto have been deceived. This boiler worked off more water than\\nany I have had hold of, of late, even for the Government service.\\nIt would be difficult to keep a boiler that worked water like\\nthe boiler in question supplied. Under such circumstances, the\\ndanger of an explosion would be great. I can not say that that\\nwas the cause of the explosion, although that is my impres-\\nsion. In my opinion a Martin boiler is not as safe as a boiler\\nwith horizontal tubes. The glass gauge would indicate that\\nfoaming was taking place. A good engineer will be always\\nable to tell when his boiler is foaming. Henry Mason.\\nSworn to before me this 21st\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "24:\\nWilliam H. Wallace, sworn, says I reside at No. 21 Green\\navenue. I am an iron merchant. The iron for the Chenango\\nand the Ascutney was furnished by the firm of Wallace\\nBuckley. The best quality of iron is usually ordered for ma-\\nrine boilers it is known as C No. 1, and C H No. 1. I fur-\\nnished some of both grades. The qualities of iron shown by\\nMr. Gr. W Quintard was furnished by Wallace Buckley.\\nWm. H. Wallace.\\nSworn to before me this 21st\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to half-past seven p.m.\\nExamination resumed at half-past seven p.m.\\nGeorge Biggin, sworn, says I reside at 120 Cannon street,\\nNew- York. I am a machinist. I am employed at the Mor-\\ngan Iron Works. I assisted in running the Chenango ninety-\\nsix hours. The boilers held their water very badly they foamed\\nconsiderably. At one time the piston came down on the water\\non the bottom of the cylinder, and forced the rod into the piston\\na sixteenth of an inch further than we were able to do it in the shop.\\nWe commenced running with open throttles, but was com-\\npelled to shut off for my own safety, as she made water so rap-\\nidly. This was objected to on the jpart of the engineer. One of\\nthe engineers who was at work with me said, that, according\\nto specifications, that I was compelled to run the engine with\\nthe throttle wide open. I stated to him that I should use my\\nown judgment about the matter. I considered it dangerous to\\nrun the engine. I was in dread the whole time I was on the ship.\\nThere is a handle to let off water in the cylinder, as a part of the\\nstarting-gear. I did not keep fresh water in the boiler, as we\\nwere compelled to blow to heep the brine down, but I never could\\nkeep it down on my watch, and at the same time run the boil-\\ners with safety. I never saw the handle I spoke of rigged on\\nany vessel before. I think I saw the mercury -gauge filled. The\\nglass tell-tale was at zero in the scale. The most pressure I\\never had on the boiler was forty pounds. I consider it dangerous", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "25\\nto have a foaming boiler, as I do not consider myself compe-\\ntent to tell where the water is, and I use all exertion to get the\\nwater down. I consider the Martin boiler more liable to foam,\\nwith my experience, than any other marine boiler. I think the\\nwater is more liable to be suddenly converted into steam and\\nthrown from its level, in the Martin boiler, than any other boil-\\ner I have had any experience with. Some of the tubes in this\\nboiler are so placed as to receive the intensity of the fire, while\\nothers are exhausted. This is not the case with boilers hav-\\ning horizontal tubes, I think. I have not seen the boiler since\\nthe explosion. I think the heating space in the Martin boiler\\nis more than the water space will allow, drawing as it does the\\nsteam from so near the surface of the water. The foaming\\ntakes place or commences at the crown-sheet the most dan-\\ngerous foaming commences there. If the foaming took place\\nin the tubes, I think it would have a tendency to rise, the\\nheavy substance being below. Gr. B. RiGGiisr.\\nSworn to before me, this 21st\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nJoseph Belknap, sworn, says I reside at 156 West Twelfth\\nstreet, New- York. I am an engineer. I examined the engine\\nand boilers of the Chenango on the twentieth instant. The\\nsize of the boiler is about sixteen feet one way, by ten the other.\\nQ. What is the number of square inches in the boiler as\\nshown in the drawing, that requires to be stayed\\nA. One hundred and sixty feet twenty-three thousand and\\nforty square inches. I did not notice the number of stays in\\nthe boiler at the rate of three hundred and sixty inches to a\\nbrace twenty-one thousand six hundred pounds to each brace.\\nI think the brace shown capable of sustaining a pressure of\\ntwenty-one thousand pounds. I would suspend twenty-one\\nthousand pounds on the brace shown but I would not like to\\ntrust in a boiler, because the braces would not all draw alike\\nin a boiler more strain would come on one than on another.\\nBoilers are usually braced from six to twelve inches apart, from\\nthirty -six to one hundred and one hundred and forty-four flat sur-", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "26\\nface, to sustain the different pressures. Angle iron would help\\nto stay it, or T iron on the side. The T iron shown in drawing\\nhas probably run down very near the tube-sheet, about twenty-\\ntwo feet. I think the length of rail in question would be apt\\nto spring with the pressure at forty-five pounds, without the\\nbraces. The rail being elastic, and the brace non-elastic, the\\nstrain would not entirely come upon the brace the two com-\\nbined forming a stronger brace than either would singly.\\nQ. Looking at the drawing, you find eight spaces for stays to\\nbe placed in front of the boiler, and the same number length-\\nwise of the boiler would not the strain come upon thirty-two\\nlugs instead of sixty-four, as shown in the drawing?\\nA. It would. If there were only thirty-two lugs instead of\\nsixty-four, as required, the pressure the thirty-two would have\\nto sustain would be double.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If a boiler is contracted for to stand sixty\\npounds to the inch, and the boiler is tested, and does not yield,\\ndo you think the builders in any way responsible for any ex-\\nplosion which may occur\\nA. I do not.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) After the test of sixty pounds, is it possi-\\nble to explode it with less 3 until some change has been made\\nA. No, sir.\\nQ. Is it not possible for a change to take place, in putting\\na hydraulic pressure on a boiler? as it only remains on a mo-\\nment, it may strain something, which may give way at some\\nother time.\\nA. In a boiler properly stayed, every iron is supposed to be\\nfast to iron. The elasticity of the bar is the safety of the\\nboiler, as the iron is capable of a certain degree of elasticity,\\nwithout fracture. The elasticity of the bar will allow the\\nbraces to come to an equal strain without pressure. In my\\nopinion they have been at work in the boiler, and have de-\\ntached some of the braces, and neglected to readjust them that\\nmay have caused the explosion, I have not examined the\\ninterior of the boiler. If, on an examination of the boiler, I\\nfound that opinion an erroneous one, I could only say that\\nI think there was too great a pressure on the boiler. There\\nis nothing on the brace shown that would indicate excessive", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "27\\nheat had been applied. If the brace had been heated, it would\\nshow it in some cases, from the water being low in the boiler.\\nThis brace does not show that appearance. I have given the\\nplan of the Martin boiler considerable study. I have super-\\nintended two boilers of the same style. I have never heard\\nany opinions expressed against the safety of the Martin boiler.\\nI regard them as safe as any other, if they are made of good\\nmaterial and properly braced, for an ordinary pressure of\\n.steam. I saw the rupture on the shell of the boiler. I think\\nthe explosion was caused by an excessive pressure, which\\nparted the stays, and ruptured the shell.\\nThe piece of iron now shown as a piece of the boiler of the\\nChenango, is, in my opinion, good iron also the iron of the\\nbraces is good. I do not think the explosion was caused by a\\ndefective sheet of iron, if the piece shown was a part of the\\nboiler.\\nJoseph Belknap.\\nSworn to before me, this 21st\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nEdw. Farron, sworn, says I reside at 197 Schermerhorn\\nstreet. I am an engineer by profession. I am at present Su-\\nperintendent of the Morgan Iron Works, New-York. I had\\nnothing to do with the construction of the boiler of the Che-\\nnango. I have examined the boiler since the explosion. I no-\\nticed the fracture on the shell. In my opinion the iron shown\\nis good boiler -iron, better than is generally used in boilers. I exam-\\nined the fracture as far as I could see did not see any iron that I\\nthought defective. It appeared to be a fracture from the rivets.\\nI did not see the mercury-gauge, but I examined the tell-tale.\\nThe mercury would blow out at fifty pounds pressure. If the\\nmercury had blown out at fifty pounds, the steam would cause\\na noise that any experienced person would notice.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you think the boiler exploded (judging\\nfrom the mercurj^-gauge) at a less pressure than fifty pounds\\nA. It is a question difficult to answer, as no person could tell,\\nunder certain conditions of the boiler, what length of time it\\nmight take to generate a pressure sufficient to explode the boiler", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "28\\nbefore that pressure could reach the mercury-gauge. It would\\ntake a considerable time to raise the pressure from fifty to sixty\\npounds, so that it could indicate upon the gauge.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you think, judging from these circum-\\nstances, that the boiler exploded under a pressure less than\\nsixty pounds?\\nA. I do not think it would. I have never heard any discus-\\nsion in relation to the bracing of this boiler.\\nQ. (by Juror.) If the inspector discovered that the stays were\\nnot put in according to specifications, would it not be his duty\\nto reject the boiler before the explosion\\nA. The inspector should have discovered any defect in the\\nconstruction. My impression is that it must have been some-\\nthing extraordinary to have caused the explosion. If the braces\\nwere put in as the inspector stated, two braces leading to one\\nlug on the tube-box, instead of two, I think the strength of the\\nsingle lug was anticipated to withstand a much greater pres-\\nsure than that supposed to be upon the boiler under ordinary\\ncircumstances, and I think that the section of iron left in the\\nlug being one inch by five eighths, that its breaking weight\\ncould not? been less than forty thousand pounds, being equal to\\nsixty-four thousand pounds per square inch. On Monday, one\\nweek ago, I asked Mr, Cahill how every thing was on board\\nthe ship. He said every thing was all right. I think the Mar-\\ntin boiler is a safe boiler. I do not think them as safe as a cylin-\\nder boiler. The engineers having the Martin boiler in charge\\nhave found fault with them in regard to foaming. The general\\nopinion of the Martin boilers is that they do foam more or less.\\nMr. Cahill was considered a careful man as far as I know.\\nEdw\\\\ Farron.\\nSworn to before me, this 21st\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Eorris,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to Friday, at three p.m.\\nExamination resumed on Friday, April 22d, at three p.m.,\\nby calling\\nThomas L. Smith, M.D., says I am a naval surgeon, hav-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "29\\ning charge of the Navy Hospital in this city. I was on duty\\nwhen the men from the Chenango were received, and have been\\nsince that time. Up to this date twenty-eight have died of the\\neffects of the explosion. They died from scalds and the inha-\\nlation of steam. Thomas L. Smith.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Nokris,\\nCoroner.\\nHenry Hoffman, sworn, says I am a master boiler-maker.\\nI partially examined the damaged boiler on the Chenango.\\nMy examination extended principally to the outside of the\\nboiler. I did not go inside of the boiler. The piece of iron\\ntaken from the shell of the boiler was subjected to a test. I\\nwas present when the piece was tested. I found it was a fair\\nsample of iron used for that purpose. I did not notice any\\niron on the entire surface of the fracture that was defective.\\nTo the Jury. I consider myself competent to build a boiler.\\nI have taken the leading part in constructing many, both ma-\\nrine and stationary boilers. I have examined this boiler suffi-\\nciently to enable me to form an opinion of its workmanship\\nand mechanical construction. I would say that the boiler of\\nthe Chenango was a fair sample of the Martin boiler used by\\nthe United States Government.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What do you think of the mode in which it\\nwas braced\\nA. I think it is sufficiently traced for the purpose for which\\nit was intended. I have stayed boilers where the stays have\\nreached from twelve to fourteen feet. I never saw a boiler in\\nEngland my only acquaintance with the English boiler is\\nfrom reading. The mode of staying adopted in the Chenango s\\nboiler I approve of.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think it the best mode of bracing a\\nboiler to combine the T iron with the rigid brace, to depend\\nupon the two jointly to sustain the boiler?\\nA. I do, in a boiler of that form. I have been employed on\\nboilers of a similar form. I would not consider the braces suf-\\nficient, in my own judgment.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "30\\nQ. What distance would you put your braces apart on a flat\\nsurface to sustain a pressure of from forty to forty-five pounds\\nA. Every ten inches square but I would not put them less\\nthan fourteen or fifteen inches apart if the surface was strength-\\nened with T iron. I gauged the shell iron in question it was\\nfive-sixteenths of an inch thick. I have not thoroughly studied\\nthe theory of explosion. I have formed some slight opinion of\\nthe cause of the explosion. In my opinion the explosion was\\ncaused by a deficiency of water in the boiler. I account for the\\ndeficiency by the boiler foaming. The Martin boiler is more\\nliable than some others to foam. I do not consider that the\\nMartin boiler should be intrusted to an engineer of not more\\nthan ordinary skill. I base my opinion for this upon there\\nbeing a superabundance of heating surface, which has a ten.\\ndency to create foam, which makes the boiler work water into\\nthe engine, suspends the water in the boiler, thereby causing\\noverheating of the plates next to the fire, thereby endangering\\nthe safety of the boiler. I have not noticed any thing about the\\ngauges on the boilers of the Chenango. In my opinion, any other\\ntubular boiler that has the same proportions of fire surface as\\nthe Martin boiler equally as dangerous. I would consider any\\nhorizontal boiler with equal amount of heating surface, as dan-\\ngerous. I think no other boiler of this class has the same\\namount of heating surface as the Martin boiler.\\nHenry Hoffman.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nFrank J. Bell, sworn, says I reside at ISTo. 227 Sixth street\\nNew- York. I took the indicator diagrams from the Chenango,\\nwhile running ninety-six hours. The two cards shown were\\nboth taken by me during the ninety-six hours trial. They are\\nindicator diagrams, indicating the power of the engine at that\\ntime. They left my possession within a few days. The figures\\nshowing the pressure of steam vacuum and revolutions are in\\nmy handwriting. They are the true statement of the facts\\nat the time they were taken. The extreme pressure as indi-\\ncated on the diagram will not coincide with the gauges. There", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "31\\nwas an extreme pressure of nineteen pounds indicated on the\\ncylinder by the indicator. I did not look at the mercury at\\nthe time I took the figures. At the time the diagrams were\\ntaken the pressure on the cylinder was nineteen pounds; the\\npressure on the boiler was twenty-six pounds. The engines\\nworked well most of the time. I frequently heard the piston\\nstrike the water, but can not say whether I took the diagrams in\\nquestion at that time or not. There was very few naval engin-\\neers present during the trial. I did not see the boilers tested.\\nFrank J. Bell.\\nSworn to before me this 2 2d\\nday of April, 1864. f\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nJohn Dolan, sworn, says I reside in North Second street,\\nnear Second street. I am a boiler-maker. I was authorized by\\nthe Coroner to go aboard the ship Chenango, and examine the\\nruptured boiler. I went aboard, but there was no one there\\nto give me any information. I found the man-hole plates on\\nthe boiler. I asked for a wrench, but could not get one so I\\ncould not see the inside of the boiler. I asked for a lamp, and\\nwas told that no lights were allowed on board. I examined\\nthe boiler as well as the opportunity afforded. I measured the\\nT iron on the top of the boiler, from centre to centre, and\\nfound that it was twelve inches apart. 1 did not see any thing\\non the boiler that would indicate had iron. The iron now\\nshown I consider better than is now generally used. The brace now\\nshown is made of iron as good as is generally used. The force\\nnecessary to produce the condition of the brace must have\\nbeen very great. If the boiler had been tested at sixty pounds\\ncold-water pressure, I do not think that any less pressure of\\nsteam could have exploded it. The explosion, in my opinion,\\nfrom the testimony I have heard, was caused by a scarcity of\\nwater in the boiler. I would account for the scarcity of water\\nfrom the fact that the engineer was compelled to blow the engine\\ndown. The boilers foaming somewhat, more or less, they have\\nopened the furnace-doors suddenly, and cold air passing\\nthrough the furnaces, the water found its level the top of the\\ntube-box thus becoming bare of water. I think the boiler in", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "32\\nquestion is a safe boiler, but do not consider it as safe as any\\nordinary boiler with the same attention, because the construc-\\ntion is different. The heating surface of the Martin boiler is\\nmore extensive than any other boiler made, resulting in making\\nit an unreliable boiler, requiring more attention. I do consider\\nthe Martin boiler as safe as any other, if properly attended to.\\nI think the boiler in question requires more attention than\\nother boilers. I think it safer for the Government to employ\\npractical engineers, rather than theoretical ones. The Martin\\nboiler should not be left in the care of young or inexperienced\\nengineers.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you think the boiler-plate in question\\nis tested in the best way it can be tested\\nA. I do. There are many ways of testing boiler-iron. I\\nusually, when I test a piece of boiler-iron for a test purpose,\\nput it in the fire, and knock it down on the corner of the an-\\nvil. I can not say any thing about the usual way of testing\\niron taken from an exploded boiler. From my mode of test-\\ning, I think the iron shown would be capable of sustaining all\\nthe pressure necessary. A man that is not competent to take\\ncharge of a Martin boiler is not, in my opinion, fit to have\\ncharge of a steam-engine. John Dolan.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nThomas F. Powers, sworn, says I reside on the north-east\\ncorner of Myrtle and Clermont avenues. I am an engineer,\\nmachinist, and inspector of stationary steam-boilers. I ex-\\namined the boiler of the Chenango on the outside. I ex-\\namined the mercury-gauge. There was about five inches of\\nmercury blown out of the gauge, if the gauge was filled at the\\ntime it was put up. Blowing out the mercury proves that\\nthere was an over-pressure the mercury would not blow out\\nof the gauge if there was not a sudden over-prqssure. There\\nwas not any water in the pipe leading from the boiler. That\\nproved that there must have been a heat in the tipper part of\\nthe boiler. There was a quantity of water blown through the\\nmercury in the gauge. The tell-tale was about two and a half", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "33\\ninches above zero. The gauge on the tell-tale should have\\nbeen at nothing, (0.) The absence \u00c2\u00a9f mercury is, in my judg-\\nment, an infallible proof that there was too much power on the\\nboiler. I examined the shell of the boiler where it was rup-\\ntured. I did not notice any defective part in the iron. I have\\nformed an opinion of the Martin boiler. I think they require\\na great deal of attention and care but the English horizontal\\nor tubular boilers I think require just as much care. I think\\nthey require so much care, from the great amount of heating\\nsurface the steam space is small, and the water space is small.\\nThe boiler requires care and attention. The generation of\\nsteam would be so sudden that the boiler must get sudden re-\\nlief to he saved.\\nA boiler with a large heating surface is more liable to work\\nwater or foam than others. I would not consider a boiler\\nsubject to such changes a safe boiler to adopt for the marine\\nservice. The mercury-gauge is about three-eighths bore. There\\nwas no mercury spilled on the floor before the gauge was tak-\\nen down. When there is any of the mercury blown out, the\\npressure being the same, the rest will follow more readily\\nThat being the case, and the gauge being only three eighths\\ndiameter, it is very possible that the gauge did not indicate\\ncorrectly. I did not see the safety-valve. I saw no indications\\nof mercury about the floor. I found the gauge all in good\\nworking condition, with the exception of the absence of mer-\\ncury. The float would have been blown out altogether if the\\nmercury had risen to the top of the tube.\\nQ. In your opinion, would the float return to its proper\\nplace in the tube after the pressure had left\\nA. It would. There was a cock on the gauge. I found\\nthe water-cock open. The other, I think, was closed.\\nThomas F. Powers.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nElbridge Lawton, sworn, says I reside at 125 Oxford street,\\nBrooklyn. I am a Chief Engineer in the United States Navy.\\n3", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "34\\nI am on special duty connected with building machinery for\\nthe Government. I have nad a great deal of experience in the\\nMartin boiler, both in their construction and use on board of\\nships. I have been Chief Engineer on three ships on which the\\nboilers have been used the frigates Colorado, Eoanoke, and\\nMississippi. I was in charge on the Colorado six months\\ntwenty-one months on the Eoanoke, and twenty months on\\nthe Mississippi. I did not notice any thing in the boilers dur-\\ning this time to weaken my confidence in them. I have no-\\nticed the Martin boiler to foam. There is not any thing in\\nthese boilers to make them foam more than other boilers. All\\nboilers foam more or less at times. The Martin boilers are, in\\nmy opinion, as safe under ordinary circumstances as other\\nboilers. They are capable of being supplied as fast as any\\nother boiler. I have not formed any opinion about the cause\\nof the explosion. While in charge of the Martin boiler, I have\\nhad some forty assistants under me, mostly young men just\\nentering the service third assistants and the working of the\\nmachinery and boilers was noted on the log-book every hour,\\nand it was my duty to read and approve it and I never no-\\nticed any remarks as to the foaming of the boilers. There\\nnever was any complaint made to me about the boilers foam-\\ning or behaving badly. The boiler of the Colorado had no\\ndry pipe, and if they foamed badly, would work water but\\nthe engines of these ships did not work water a proof that\\nthe boilers did not foam much. The more rapidly you use\\nsteam, the more liability there is to foam. The cause of foam-\\ning is an undue relation between the pressure of steam and the\\ntemperature at which it is formed. The Martin boiler is as\\nliable to foam as the other class. Either class can be so de-\\nsigned as to foam badly putting them under low decks, etc.\\nThe steam-room is not contracted so as to make room over the\\nfurnaces. We had no blowers in the Colorado and the other\\ntwo ships in question only a natural draft. My opinion is that\\nthe boiler, if made of proper material and properly stayed, is\\nas good a boiler as can be got. I would prefer it to any boiler\\nin use. There is no difficulty in staying these boilers. The\\nboilers of the Mississippi are nearer alike to the Chenango s\\nthan those of the Eoanoke or Colorado. I do not think that", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "35\\nthe boiler was exploded by foaming, taking into consideration\\nthe testimony of Engineer Sullivan, Captain Fillebrown, and\\nthe dying declaration of Mr. Cahill, that he had two and a half\\ngauges of water.* I have not been able to form any opinion\\nin relation to the explosion occurring from defective staying,\\nfrom the testimony I have heard or read. Mr. Sullivan could\\nnot judge much of the working of the engines or boiler by\\nbeing in the pilot-house. Mr. Cahill could not know the height\\nof the water while standing by the cylinder. All I have heard\\nof Mr. Cahill as an Engineer has been to his credit. I would\\nconsider myself just as safe managing the Martin boiler as I would\\nany other boiler. I never heard the safety of the Martin boiler\\nquestioned. An engine could not work any great amount of\\nwater without thumping. I never run a holler of so low a\\nsteam-room as the one in question. Elbridge Lawton.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nMortimer Kellogg, sworn, says I am attached to the United\\nStates ship Brooklyn. I am a Chief Engineer in the United\\nStates Navy. During my experience as an Engineer, I have\\nhad charge of the Martin boiler, with ample facilities to test\\ntheir principles. On the San Jacinto we had one Martin and\\none English horizontal boiler. The two boilers in their work-\\ning did not materially differ. Under some circumstances, (the\\nconsumption of fuel,) I would prefer the English boiler. The\\ntendency of the Martin boiler to foam, under my experience,\\nwas very trifling. They are, when properly braced, as safe in\\nthe hands of an ordinary engineer as any other boiler. In\\ncase the water got a little below the water-gauge, I would feel\\nsafer with the Martin boiler than the English. My reason for\\nmy confidence is that there is a better circulation of water\\nthan in the English or some other styles of boilers. The gen-\\neration of steam, in rising up through the tubes, naturally car-\\nries the water up with it slowly, therefore covering the tube-\\nsheets with a quantity of water whereas in the English boiler,\\nThere is no proof that Mr. Cahill said this.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "36\\nif the water got below the fire-tubes I would not feel quite so\\nsafe. I witnessed a trial for economical results of these boilers.\\nI do not remember the exact result, but my impression is that\\nit was in favor of the Martin boiler. I was not acquainted\\nwith Mr. Cahill professionally. I consider the iron in ques-\\ntion as being good iron. Mortimer Kellogg.\\nSworn to before me this 22d\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to Monday, April 25th, at three o clock P.M.\\nExamination resumed Monday, April 25th, at three o clock\\nP.M., by calling\\nCyrus H. Hawkins, sworn, says I reside at 68 First street,\\n.New- York. I am a machinist. I put up the mercury-gauge\\non the Chenango, and also on the Ascutney. The gauge now\\nexhibited is exactly like the one on the Chenango. (The wit-\\nness here demonstrated the manner in which the gauge was\\nfilled.) I was present at the filling of the gauge with mercury,\\nin company with Messrs. Mason and Kiggin. The gauge was\\nproperly filled until it ran over, so that the tell-tale was at\\nnothing. I was on the trial of the Chenango, (ninety-six hours.)\\nI noticed that the engine worked water very badly. I was\\ncalled three or four times during a four hours watch to work\\nthe water off the cylinder. When I heard the piston strike the\\nwater, I would leave the engine-room, and work off the water.\\nThere was no way of telling how much water she worked. I\\nwas in the boiler before the trial trip, but did not observe the\\nnumber of stays in them. I have not been on the Chenango\\nsince the explosion. I am positive the gauge was in perfect\\norder during the trial trip. Cyrus H. Hawkins.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "37\\nHenry Mason, recalled, says I placed the mercury-gauge on\\nboard the Chenango, and filled it with mercury. The gauge\\nwas filled to overflowing, and was in perfect working order. I\\nwas on the ship on the sixteenth instant, but was never inside\\nof the boiler. The steam was six or seven feet higher than\\nthe cock on the gauge. Henry Mason.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nEdmundS. Be Luce, sworn, says I am Chief Engineer of the\\nBrooklyn Navy Yard. I have in my possession two indica-\\ntor cards that were picked up on the Chenango directly after\\nthe accident occurred. They indicate thirty four and a half\\npounds of pressure, gauge indication. This is probably the last\\ncard that was taken. This indicator shows that the engine\\nwas partly throttled. These indicators were found on the floor,\\nand were handed to me by Captain Fillebrown. I have had\\nexperience with the Martin boiler at sea. I was in the Brook-\\nlyn nine months, and had charge of the Iroquois eighteen\\nmonths. I never had any trouble with them. The morning\\nthe Chenango came up to the yard, I found the safety-valve\\nat thirty-nine and a half pounds, which is the pressure per\\nsquare inch that would have opened it. I also examined the\\ncyphon-gauge. I detached the pipes to clear it of water, and\\npulled the string down, and allowed it to go back after per-\\nforming this operation several times, it went back one quarter\\nof an inch beyond zero point. There was no mercury on the\\nfloor. I made no further examination, as I did not wish to\\ntake it down. There had been no cleaning up before I went\\non board, as orders had been given not to touch any thing. I\\ndid not shorten the cord of the tell-tale. My opinion is that\\nthe braces have not been evenly set, and have given way un-\\nder an undue strain. I know, from observations made, the\\nnumber of braces in the boiler, but I have them at my office.\\nI think the lugs in the boiler might have been built stronger.\\nBoilers are usually stayed much stronger than is necessary to\\nbear the strain. If the boiler was braced according to the", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "38\\ndrawing, it would show that it was braced to sixty-four lugs. I\\ncan give the exact number by going to my office. The Brook-\\nlyn, s boilers are not as low as the Chenango y s, I never had\\nany trouble working water on the Brooklyn. The Brooklyn\\ndraws steam from the chimney.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If this boiler had stood sixty pounds\\nhydraulic pressure, and pronounced perfect, would it be at all\\nlikely to have exploded at a less pressure\\nA. If some of the pins had been partly broken, it would be\\npossible for the boiler to have exploded after standing a sixty\\npound pressure.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is the water-gauge an infallible indicator\\nof the amount of water in the boiler, under all circumstances?\\nA. It is not. At every stroke of the engine there is a re-\\nbound upon the boiler in this case it is probable that an ap-\\nproximation to a rupture would be increased at every stroke\\nof the engine. A brace put in connection with an elastic bar\\nbrings the strain almost entirely upon the rigid brace, less the\\namount to spring it.\\nQ. Assuming the gauge to be perfectly adjusted, would it\\nindicate, foaming or otherwise, the exact quantity of water in\\nthe boiler?\\nA. 1 think it will, if kept clear. The forward arch of the\\nChenango boiler has been very hot.\\nEdmund S. De Luce.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nWarren E. Hill, sworn, says I reside in Greenpoint. I am\\nan engineer and draughtsman in the employ of the Conti-\\nnental Iron Works. I examined the injured boiler on the\\nChenango on the 20th instant, for my own gratification. I\\nwent inside of the boiler. I examined the stays; there was\\nsixty-four of them in the boiler. The boiler is generally\\nbraced as shown in the drawing. The braces to the roof\\nare half-moon braces, attached to T iron, which is three and a\\nhalf inches square by one half inch. The half-moon braces", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "39\\nare one and one-eighth inches, attached to a bar one and three-\\nquarter inches by three-eighths, running to the tube-boxes, to\\nwhich they are fastened by two three-quarter rivets at different\\nangles, somewhere about an angle often degrees. I made the\\nnumber of braces as sixty-four, coming to the tube-boxes. There\\nare one hundred and sixty square feet in the top of the\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2boiler to be stayed, making twenty-three thousand and forty\\nsquare inches, making three hundred and sixty inches to each\\nbrace, making a pressure of twenty-one thousand six hundred\\npounds to each brace. We generally brace boilers of this kind\\nevery nine or ten inches, making one hundred inches to each\\nbrace, I do not know why the boiler was braced on the top\\nevery three hundred and sixty inches, while this and all other\\nboilers are usually braced at one hundred inches. I would\\nlook upon it as a very strange piece of boiler-making. I think,\\nan elastic T rail would help strengthen the boiler.\\nWarren B. Hill.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nWilliam Bromley, sworn, says: I am Chief Engineer of the\\nFulton Iron Works. I have had experience with the Martin\\nboilers. I was on the ships Niagara and Brooklyn about six\\ndays each, also the Oneid-a and Iroquois. I have never had\\nany cause to complain of their working. I suppose the boil-\\ners of the ships I have named were like the boilers on the Che-\\nnango. The drawing shown is about the same as the others.\\nI have noticed these boilers to foam, but. not more so than\\nother boilers. A majority of new boilers are liable to foam.\\nThe water-gauge would not indicate the true amount of water\\nin the boiler, if the boiler was foaming. There would be more\\nor less fluctuations in the gauge during foaming. I was one\\nof a hoard of engineers who sat in judgment last winter on\\nthe boilers, engines, and condensers of these gunboats, called by\\nthe Secretary of the Navy. The Board was composed of the\\nfollowing gentlemen Mr. E. Everett, Miers Coryell, Charles\\nM. Copeland, William Wright, Yon Merrick, B. Bartol, Mr.\\nHibbard, and Mr. Loring of Boston five of the Board reported", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "40\\nfavorably. There was a minority report. This report was\\nonly based on the economical effect. The* report was printed\\nfor the use of the Board, and copyrighted. The Martin boiler\\ncan be made as strong in every way as the horizontal tubular\\nboiler for marine service. My confidence in them has not been\\nshaken by the recent disaster. William Bromley.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nAugustus K Baker sworn, says I reside in Providence, R I.\\nI have charge of the construction and running of the engine\\nof the double-ender Pawtuxet. She was built from plans and\\nspecifications furnished by the Government. The drawing\\nshown is the same as the one the Pawtuxet boilers were built\\non. I had charge of the Pawtuxet on her ninety-six hours*\\ntrial. She burnt about fifteen tons of coal an hour. She averaged\\nsix and three quarter revolutions a minute. The diagram shown\\nis the one taken on that occasion. During the trial we had a\\ngreat deal of foaming of the boilers. We had to open the relief-\\nvalves very often, to let the water which came over out of the cylin-\\nder. We had to feed salt water to make up for the loss. I do\\nnot consider it safe to run the boilers with the engine, as they\\nwill foam in spite of all you can do. The vessel was tried a\\nweek ago last Saturday down the river. We carried about\\neighteen to twenty pounds of steam on the trip. The throttle\\nwas about three eighths open when we had twenty-two pounds\\nof steam. On going back we opened the throttle wide open. A\\nreport was sent from the fire-room that the starboard-boiler\\nwas foaming. I examined the boiler and found it was foaming\\nvery bad. We was then near the end of our trip. I ordered\\nthe fireman to draw the fires at once. I was twenty -iiuo minutes\\ngetting water up to the first gauge. I do not consider the boilers\\nas safe as any other boiler with ordinary care. I do net con-\\nsider them as safe as the common tubular boiler. I do not think\\nyou can brace the flat surface in the Martin boilers as well as\\nyou can other boilers, as you can not put braces enough in to\\nhold them. The water-gauge does not show the amount of", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "41\\nwater while a boiler is foaming. I think any engineer would\\nbe liable to mistake and not know where the water was during\\nfoaming. An engineer could tell if there was plenty of light,\\nand his boiler was not foaming, at a distance of fifteen feet, how\\nmuch water he had. In my opinion, the cause of the explo-\\nsion has been from the overheating of the crown-arches, which\\nwould cause an. increase of steam pressure instantaneously. I\\nbase my opinion on the testimony of former witnesses. The\\noverheating of the sheets would result from lack of water in the\\nboiler. I commenced my business at thirteen years of age, and\\nhave been engaged at the business ever since. I would not\\nmake a report to the Captain that every thing was working\\nbeautifully if the boilers had been foaming. The engineer\\ncould tell at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet if the boiler\\nwas foaming. If there was a good light I could tell if the\\nboilers foamed by the working of the engine. I would not\\nha/ue risked myself in the Pawtuxet if Iliad not had full con-\\ntrol of the engine. I do not consider the boilers fit to run\\nwith the engines that are constructed to run with them.\\nA. E. Baker.\\nSworn to before me, this 25th\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nHenry Nones, sworn, says I am a First Assistant Engineer\\nin the United States Navy. I have had an experience on sev-\\neral ships with the Martin boilers, over a period of eight years.\\nMy experience has been satisfactory. I have never noticed\\nany variations that I would consider dangerous, with proper\\nattention. I do know something about the staying of these\\nboilers, as I have paid a great deal of attention to them. The\\nnumber of braces I do not recollect. I looked in the boilers,\\nand I think I counted seventy, but will not be sure. They\\nwere braced exactly, I think, according to this drawing. I\\nshould say the Ascutney boilers are braced similar to the Che-\\nnango s. I have never discovered any strain on any of the\\nbraces, or an appearance of giving way. I had charge of the\\nAscutney during her trial. I was Chief Engineer of the ship.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "42\\nThe engine and boilers were in charge of the engineers fur-\\nnished by the Morgan Works. I, with the assistance under\\nme, obtained the necessary data for the government during the\\ntrial Of ninety-six hours. The general working of the engine\\nwas good. The boilers at times gave some little trouble by\\nfoaming. On several occasions I worked the relief-valves\\nmyself, being near them. During the trial the engine worked\\nwater y how much I am unable to say. The piston struck dis-\\ntinctly. I did not consider this dangerous, so long as the\\nvalves were large enough to free the cylinder of water. The\\nvalves did permit the water to pass out. I should not antici-\\npate any danger from the fact of the engine working water.\\nHenry B. Nones, Jr.\\nSworn to before me, this 25th\\nday of April, 186i. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to half-past seven p.m.\\nExamination resumed at half-past seven P.M. by calling\\nC. L. Carty, sworn, says I am an Engineer in the United\\nStates Navy. I kept watch on the Pavvtuxet on her trial of\\nninety-six hours. I did not notice any thing particularly\\nwrong, except that she lifted her water slightly, not sufficient\\nto inconvenience the working of the ship. The water-gauge\\nis not a true indicator of the water in the boiler, if the boiler\\nfoams. The gauge may indicate two and a half cocks, and the\\nboiler may have more or less. I believe the Pawtuxetfs boil-\\ners are the same as the Chenango s. I have had about sixteen\\nor seventeen months experience with the Martin boiler. I do\\nnot know that they require more care than other marine boil-\\ners. A foaming boiler is hardly safe for marine or other pur-\\nposes. The most prominent causes of foaming are the different\\nwaters, salt and fresh, one requiring a higher temperature to\\nboil than another. It is rather more difficult to keep a fresh\\nsupply of water on a boiler that foams than any other. I have\\nalways felt safe with the Martin boilers. Never had sufficient\\ntrouble to make me feel otherwise. I think the boiler of the", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "43\\nr\\nChenango had been injured by cold-water pressure, making it\\nunequal to the task intended for it. I think I would consider\\nmyself safe with a boiler that had stood a pressure of sixty\\npounds, cold-water pressure, at a steam pressure of thirty-five\\npounds. I should think, if the lead outside the boiler had been\\nmelted, that there had been fire in contact with it. I would,\\ntaking the piece shown as a sample, think that it had been sol-\\ndered. The piece of felting shown seems too much scorched\\nto have been done by the solder. I think a boiler could be in-\\njured by a cold-water pressure and not be noticed at the time.\\nCharles L. Carty.\\nSworn to before me, this 25th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nThomas H. Faron, sworn, savs I was master machinist of\\nthe Brooklyn Navy Yard for four years. My experience only\\nextends to the use of the Martin boiler at the wharf and some\\nfew times on a trial trip. From my observations I have never\\nhad any doubts of their safety. I think the boiler is more in-\\nclined to foam than other boilers. I have formed an opinion\\nin relation to this explosion. There is a large body of water\\nabove the surface, which is the greatest evaporating surface in\\nthe boiler. The steam generated there, that large body of\\nwater on the plates has to make its way to the upper surface\\nof the boiler, which tends to lift water along with the steam.\\nThe piece of lead shown looks as if it had been partially melted\\nthe piece of felt appears to have been subjected to a high tem-\\nperature. It must have a temperature of three hundred to\\nhave scorched the felt. It would have taken a temperature of\\nfive hundred or six hundred to have melted the lead. Such a\\ntemperature could have been reached by the upper tubes be-\\ncoming bare of water. The steam would have become sur-\\ncharged and produce such a heat. From all this, it is my im-\\npression that the boiler in question ran short of water. Water-\\ngauges are fallible. If I had been told that gauge had indicat-\\ned a sufficiency of water, I would think there had been some-\\nthing wrong with the gauge. Foaming would produce such a\\nresult, but not to such an extent as to cause an explosion, if", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "44\\nthe gauge was properly placed on the boiler. The iron shown\\nI think is very good iron. The brace shown I also think is\\ngood iron. I would consider a boiler safe at sixty pounds\\nsteam pressure that had stood a cold-water pressure of sixty\\npounds. A boiler includes all of its appurtenances, braces, etc.\\nThere is not a greater amount of water over the furnace in the\\nMartin boiler than in the horizontal or English boiler. I think\\nthe English boiler has not the same obstructions from steam\\npassing around the tubes as the Martin boiler has in passing\\nthrough the tubes.\\nIf I did not find a more extended scorched surface than the\\nsample shown would cover, I would think that the scorching\\narose from an accidental circumstance, and not from the over-\\nheating of the boiler. It might be possible that the scorching\\ncould have been done when the fires were drawn after the ex-\\nplosion, if the lead and felt had been on the edge of the boiler.\\nI have not been aboard of the vessel.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If the heat of the boiler was so intense as to\\nscorch the felt and melt the lead, would you not expect to find\\nsome evidence on the top of the furnaces and on the braces\\nA. It is not probable.\\nQ. What would be the effect on the water in the tubes, the\\nfire coming in its intensity against the tube\\nA. The tendency would be to start it upward actively, when\\nit would act as a sudden draft of the water over the furnace,\\nby this means giving to the water of the boiler a very active\\ncirculation. A rapid circulation of the water would give more\\nsafety to the boiler. The steam passing up carries some por-\\ntion of the water with it above the level of the water-line.\\nThomas H. Faron.\\nSworn to before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nDaniel B. Martin, sworn, says I reside at Washington,\\nN. J. I am an Engineer. I was a Chief Engineer and also En-\\ngineer-in-Chief of the United States Navy. I am the patentee\\nof the boiler known as the Martin boiler. I first commenced\\nto build them in 1854. The tubes were then arranged above", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "45 I\\nthe furnace, the same as they are now. There has been some\\nalterations made to accommodate them to circumstances. The\\ndifference between these tubular and other tubular boilers is\\nthat these tubes are placed vertically above the furnace, the\\nwater passing through the tubes and the heated gases on the\\noutside, the gases first passing through the furnaces and re-\\nturning between and around the tubes. The advantages I\\nclaim are, first, the more perfect circulation of water, both for\\nthe upward and downward currents; the more perfect com-\\nbustion and mixing up of the gases, those gases coming in di-\\nrect contact with the tubes and passing through between\\nthem a greater amount of power can be got out of the same\\nspace occupied with a greater amount of economy of fuel.\\nThe boiler I also consider safer from the liability of water get-\\nting low in it than the other forms of marine-boilers, for the\\nreason the tubes may be but half submerged in water from the\\nsteam generated from the crown-sheet below, and a portion of\\nthe tubes submerged in the water will carry up a constant sup-\\nply of water flowing over the top of the tube on to the tube-\\nsheets. Another reason is, that the metal of the tubes are\\ngood conductors of heat one half being in the water, the heat\\nwill be absorbed by the water below, whilst the other, or hori-\\nzontal form of flues or tubes, has, as soon as the water gets be-\\nlow the tube, it has not the water flowing over it, and not\\ncoming in contact with the water, the heat can not be carried\\noff by the conductibility of the metal. My boiler can be made\\nas strong as other marine-boilers.\\nQ. (by Juror.) The top of the boiler coming directly over the\\ntube-boxes, and the tube-sheets of those boxes being cut up by\\nthe tubing, is it possible to get a perfect fastening for the top\\nof the boiler\\nA. It is possible, for the reason that the T iron acting as a\\ntruss for stiffening the shell, also for securing the braces to it.\\nQ. (by Juror.) How do you get the fastening upon the top of\\nthe tube-box\\nA. By riveting to the side-sheets of the tube-boxes.\\nQ. (by Juror.) The brace coming to at an angle, as it must,\\nfrom the top of the boiler to the side of the tube-box, is it not\\nweakened thereby", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "46\\nA. The iron would be required to be heavier in consequence.\\nI have not examined the boiler on the inside.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) To what cause do you attribute the ex-\\nplosion\\nA. I think the pressure was greater than the braces could\\nbear.\\nQ. (bj Juror.) If the first act in the destruction of the boiler\\nwas the parting of the lugs, do you think that it was caused by\\nfoaming of the boiler or weakness in the lugs, giving way at a\\nlower pressure even than it was first tested at\\nA. I do not think that it was caused by the foaming of the\\nboiler. As I have never known foaming to increase the press-\\nure in the boiler, neither can I imagine the pressure at which\\nthat gave way, but suppose that it would stand to the pressure\\nit was tested at. Should the boiler have been overstrained at\\nthat test, it might give way afterward at a less pressure.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think the explosion took place by the\\nwater being raised off the sheets and tubes so long as to allow\\nthe sheets to get superheated and cause an excess of steam to\\nsuddenly flash up\\nA. No, sir. The only cause I can ascribe the explosion to\\nis to a pressure greater than the lug could bear.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think the constant surging of steam by\\nthe stroke of the engine would cause the parting of the lug, if\\nthere was a previous disposition to rupture, at a considerable\\nlower pressure even than tested at\\nA. No, sir. The constant working of any thing will have\\na tendency to weaken in time, and that in proportion to the\\namount of the injury, if ny existed, at the time of the first\\ntest.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think sixty-four lugs, of the size shown,\\nare sufficient to stay the top of one of your boilers, measuring\\neighteen feet by ten feet nine inches, at sixty pounds pressure\\non the square inch\\nA. I think it would hold, but if I were building one for\\nmyself, I would make it heavier. The iron now shown I con-\\nsider very good. The brace iron I consider extra good iron\\n(Ulster iron.) The iron being punched cold makes it much\\nweaker than if it had been punched hot. I do not think this", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "47\\nwas an explosion. I do not believe the rupture was caused by\\na sudden generation of pressure, but by a gradual increase of\\npressure.\\nThe vessel, I believe, had not been quite an hour from her\\nmoorings, consequently she had not had time to evaporate the\\nwater, low enough for the steam to come in contact with the\\nheated metals, whereby the steam could become superheated,\\nor surcharged, the water having to be reduced so low, for the\\nreasons I gave in explaining the safety of the boiler and as I\\nhave heard no evidence to show that the boiler foamed or\\nprimed in going down the bay, but, to the contrary, Captain\\nFillebrown informed me that the engine and boiler were work-\\ning beyond his expectations.\\nQ. Would not a gradual increase of pressure be gradually\\nindicative on the gauges\\nA. Yes, sir.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is it likely the engineer in charge would\\nallow the pressure to rise gradually beyond the point of their\\ninstructions?\\nA. It is not likely they would but their attention might\\nhave been called to something else. A burst would raise the\\ndecks as found. The damage done is not greater than I would\\nexpect from a burst. I have never heard of any complaint\\nabout foaming after the boilers had been cleaned out by use.\\nIn regard to the dry-pipe, originally, we took the steam from\\nthe top of the steam-chimney. The steam-chimney is generally\\nkept very low in a man-of-war; oftentimes, in a heavy sea, the\\nvessel rolling badly, the water would swash up into the steam-\\npipe. The dry-pipe accomplishes the object for which it was\\nintended, I should think. The dry-pipe was not put in the\\nboiler to remedy any defect from lilting water. I think all\\nthe Monitor boilers have dry pipes.\\nDaniel B. Martin.\\nSworn before me this 25th\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nAdjourned to Tuesday, April 26th, 3 P.M.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "48\\nExamination resumed, on Tuesday, April 26th.\\nMiers {Joryell, recalled, says I was in the employ of the\\nMorgan Iron Works, during the construction of these boilers.\\nTo Coroner. The boilers were examined on the inside after\\nbeing subjected to the test of sixty pounds by the foreman of\\nthe boiler-shop, to see if any thing had started. The general\\nplans of the boilers were not discussed, particularly in the draw-\\ning-shop, before they were sent into the boiler-shop.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did you pay particular attention to the\\nmode in which the boilers were to be constructed as intended\\nby the Department at Washington, when the plans came into\\nyour hands\\nA. The boiler was intended to carry a hydrostatic pressure\\nof sixty pounds, and to that the foreman s attention was di-\\nrected, but I did not give any particular attention to the details\\nmyself. I consider myself fully competent to plan and con-\\nstruct a boiler in all of its parts.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you understand the construction of this\\nboiler in all its parts and details\\nA. I have not seen the boiler since the explosion, but I\\nunderstand its construction. I do not know the exact num-\\nber of braces in the boiler, but think there are sixty-two or\\nsixty-four. I do not know how many square feet there are in\\nthe boiler that requires bracing. There are one hundred and\\nfifty-four square feet in the top of the boiler, or twenty-two\\nthousand one hundred and fifty-six square inches, giving three\\nhundred and forty-six and two tenth inches to the brace. The\\nstays were generally eight-inch centres, giving sixty-four square\\ninches to the brace. I do not remember ever discussing the\\nsubject of the bracing of the boiler with the Government em-\\nployes, or the heads of the Navy Department.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Did it ever occur to you to compare the brac-\\ning of the sides of this boiler with the top, and why should\\nthe brakes be every sixty-four inches on the sides, while the\\ntop was left at three hundred and forty square inches to the\\nbrace\\nA. The top bracing of a boiler decays but little; the lower\\nbraces are very apt to decay.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "49\\nQ. Do you think that sixty-four braces, such as shown, was\\nreally sufficient to sustain the top of the boiler of twenty-two\\nthousand square inches\\nA. Those braces did sustain the top of that boiler, at sixty\\npounds, hydrostatic pressure, without the least sign of weak-\\nness.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Would you, as a good mechanical engineer\\nand boiler-maker, if a friend should come to you and ask you\\nto make him a boiler, would you put no more braces in it\\nthan this boiler had in the top of it\\nA. I consider the bracing ample the report of the boiler-\\nmaker who examined them after the hydrostatic pressure prove\\nthem to he ample.\\nQ. Do you think the braces, when they come to the water-\\nline, will corrode more rapidly between the steam and the\\nwater than it does in the lower part of the boiler, where it is\\nalways covered with water\\nA. It will not. They would not corrode as fast. My opin-\\nion is that the explosion was caused by over-pressure.\\nTo the Coroner. I was one of a Board convened by the\\nNavy Department, to examine into these boilers for gun-boat\\npurposes. The Board made one general report. The report\\nwas against the boilers by a majority of one. The boiler was\\nreported unfavorably upon for its evaporative powers, its dura-\\nbility, whether it was always in order for service. I believe it\\nto have been the opinion of the Board generally that, burning\\nthe usual amount of fuel, say twelve pounds per square foot\\nper hour, they were not as efficient as other types of boilers\\nbefore the Board. The report of the Committee was not re-\\nspected hy the JVavy Department. I endeavored to follow out\\nthe specifications of the Government in the construction of the\\nboilers.\\nQ. Did the following specification ever come under your\\nparticular notice The shell to be braced at points not exceed-\\ning twelve inches between centres, with one and a half inch\\ndiameter rods, of the best quality wrought iron, and thorough-\\nly secured\\nA. That means in an ath wart-ship direction, as the width of\\n4", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "50\\nthe tube-box prevents it in the other direction, and the boiler\\nwas so braced. Miers Coryell.\\nSworn before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nLouis Schardirig, recalled, says I went into the boiler after\\nit was tested at sixty pounds pressure, and had been accepted\\nby the Government. I examined the inside of the boiler, to\\nsee if every thing was all right, that nothing had given way\\nthat was ony business, to see that every thing was all right.\\nI made a perfect examination of the inside of the boiler. I\\ncould not find any of the holts started by the pressure. I ex-\\namined the bolts and pins with reference to the matter. I\\nfound none strained like the one now shown.\\nQ. Do you think the boiler was as strongly stayed on the\\ntop as it was on the sides\\nA. I did not see any difference in the bracing.\\nLouis Scharding.\\nSworn before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nThomas F. Rowland, sworn, says I am proprietor of the\\nContinental Iron Works at Greenpoint. I have seen the\\nboiler since the explosion. I have been inside of it. I have\\nexamined the stays and braces that were parted. There was\\nsixty-four braces on the top of the boiler, I think.\\nQ. What is the usual number of stays that boilers are stayed\\nwith?\\nA. It depends altogether upon the amount of pressure to be\\ncarried, and the style of the boiler to be stayed, whether flat sur-\\nface or cylindrical. All flat surfaces require to be equally\\nstayed, for the same quantity and quality of iron, under equal\\npressure.\\nQ. Did you find this boiler so stayed", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "51\\nA. I know nothing about the sides or bottom of the boiler.\\nI only examined the point of rupture.\\nQ. What is the distance at which braces should be placed in\\nthis boiler to bear a pressure of sixty pounds to the inch\\nA. I can not give any opinion without making a mathemati-\\ncal calculation and I must decide upon the diameter of the\\nbraces and the manner in which they are fastened to the tube-\\nboxes, and to the shell of the boiler.\\nQ. Would the brace now shown sustain a pressure on a sur-\\nface of three hundred and sixty inches, at sixty pounds to the\\ninch\\nA. I do not know without making calculation, but can only\\nsay, that the iron in question will stand a pressure of twenty\\nthousand pounds to the square inch of section with safety.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did you see any thing in your observations\\nand examinations of the boiler to enable you to form an opin-\\nion as to the cause of the explosion\\nA. I have no clear opinion upon the subject.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did you come to any opinion upon the\\nsubject?\\nA. I think the braces may have been unduly strained by\\nbeing tested by the hydrostatic pressure. I did not see any\\nthing else that would lead me to any other conclusion. I\\nconsider the iron in question of good quality. It is possible for\\na boiler to explode at any pressure that is in excess of that which\\nthe shell is capable of enduring, regardless of the braces. The\\nrent in the shell of the boiler would be apt to take place at its\\nweakest point. I did not notice any thing that would indicate\\na weakened point along the course of the fracture. I don t\\nthink the boiler had to exceed sixty pounds of pressure on it\\nwhen it exploded. It would require fifty pounds of pressure\\nto hlovj the mercury out. If the chamber was not on the gauge\\nit would flow out at fifty pounds. If the tell-tale was found\\ntwo and a half above zero, it would indicate a pressure of fifty\\npounds, plus the one and a quarter pounds that was lost.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you not think that if that boiler had ex-\\nploded with a very high pressure, from one hundred to two\\nhundred, that there would have been a much wider rupture, and\\na greater displacement of the parts", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "52\\nA. I do. I think the boat would have hardly got back to\\nNew- York. Thomas F. Kowland.\\nSworn to before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864.\\nThomas P. JSTorkis,\\nCoroner.\\nJohn Walker, recalled, says I was foreman of the Morgan\\nWorks up to the fifteenth of June. The plan of bracing\\nwas all laid out before I left, but the braces were not made. I\\nsuppose the braces were made according to my plan. The\\nboiler was braced according to the Government plan. I did\\nnot study the specifications, only the drawing that was furnish-\\ned me. The drawing shown is the one I worked from, I think.\\nI adopted the size of the braces according to my own judgment.\\nI think it sufficiently strong to stay the boiler for the work it\\nwas intended to do. If I did not, I would not have put them\\nthere.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Why did you trust the top of the boiler to a\\nbrace like the one shown every three hundred and sixty inches\\nof surface, while you stayed the sides every sixty-four inches\\nA. There was no T iron on certain portions of the sides to\\nstiffen it; secondly, the sides are more subject to corrode than\\nthe top. The T iron was about twenty -five feet, the whole\\nlength of the bar.\\nQ. What pressure on the bar do you think would spring it?\\nA. I could not answer that, but do not think a light pres-\\nsure would do it.\\nQ. Wo aid not the strain come entirely upon the brace, less\\nthe amount required to spring the bar?\\nA. Yes, the strain would come entirely upon the braces.\\nThe T iron forms a roofing or rafter under the shell. The\\nshell would give way first, if an explosion occurred the strain\\ncoming on the T iron, would be apt to fracture it. I do not\\nthink it probable that the boiler gave way at any pressure\\nshort of that at which it was tested, without some changes had\\nbeen made a brace might have been left loose, or improperly\\nfastened. The looseness of the brace could not take place\\nwithout some one had entered the boiler to make some repairs,", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "53\\nand had unfastened the brace, and neglected to fasten it again.\\nI am not aware that there was any repairs necessary to take\\nany of the braces out. I have superintended the building of some\\nsixteen or eighteen of these boilers, and have braced them all\\nabout the same as the one in question. No accident ever hap-\\npened to any of these boilers before that were braced as this\\nwas; they all stood the test in the presence of Government\\nInspectors. John E. Walker.\\nSworn to before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nMr. De Luce, recalled, says There are thirty-two lugs in\\nthe boiler. I think twenty thousand pounds is a very high\\nestimate for a piece of iron to resist in a boiler. The part\\nbroken amounts to about three quarters of a square inch\\ntherefore I would consider fifteen thousand pounds a high\\nstrain on a lug for a boiler. The roof of this boiler contains\\none hundred and sixty square feet multiplied by one hundred\\nand forty-four, the number of square inches in a foot, gives\\ntwenty-three thousand and forty inches that divided by sixty-\\nfour, the number of stays supposed to have been in the boiler,\\ngives three hundred and sixty inches to a stay that multiplied\\nby sixty pounds of pressure, at which the boiler was tested,\\nwould give a strain of twenty-one thousand six hundred pounds\\nupon the stay but reducing the lugs to half the number, puts\\na strain upon the lug of forty-three thousand two hundred\\npounds, which was considered at an ultimate strength to re-\\nquire only fifteen thousand pounds. I do not think the boiler\\nwas properly stayed. Ed. S. De Luce.\\nSworn to before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nWarren E.. Hill, recalled, says: I can not state how many\\nlugs there are in the boiler. I only supposed there were\\nsixty-four braces, from the fact of counting them as they hung", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "54\\nIn the boiler, and made sixty-four of them in that way. I did\\nnot count the lugs on the sides of the tube-boxes.\\nWarren E. Hill.\\nSworn to before me this 26th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nHenry M. Smith, sworn, says I am a machinist and engin-\\neer. I reside 86 Fifteenth street, Brooklyn. I set up and run\\nthe engines and boilers of the double-ender Metacomet. She\\nis one of the double-enders that have been recently built for\\nthe Government. I had steam on her for the establishment\\nthat built her three days before the Government people came\\nthere. There was changes made in the setting of the valves\\nafter they were originally put up. They worked water so badly\\nthat the engine did not work well. I had charge of the ship\\nduring the Government trial trip of ninety-six hours, although\\nI had nothing to say about the management of the ship. She\\nrun very well for the ninety -six hours, and then was taken out\\non a trial trip. We brought her back by orders of Mr. Sewell\\nthe steam-valves had to have more lift, because the engine took\\nthe water out of the boiler so fast that we could not keep a sup-\\nply, and had to add salt water. I took her in that state, and\\ndelivered her to the Navy Yard. The next day I received\\norders from Mr. Brooks to replace the valves and every thing\\nelse the same as they were in the first place. I done so as nigh,\\nas I could. The danger from lifting water is that the cylinder\\nwill work the water from the boiler, and a person will suppose\\nhe has more water in the boiler than is really the case.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you consider those boilers safe against\\nthe consequence of low water in the hands of such men as the\\nSecond and Third Assistant Engineers of the Navy now are\\nA. No, sir.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Have you had an equal experience with the\\nMonitor and Martin boilers\\nA. I can not say that I have had as much experience with.\\nthe Monitor boiler as I have had with the Martin boiler.\\nQ. Do you think that the foaming is as likely to take place\\nin one as in the other, the height being equal", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "55\\nA. I should think the Martin boiler the most likely to foam.\\nThe boilers did not foam or work badly during the three days\\ntrial for the builders. The engine run very well during the\\nGovernment trial of ninety-six hours. I consider the whole\\ncause of the foaming to be the excessive opening of the valves.\\nH. M. Smith.\\nSworn to, before me, this 26 th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. JSForris,\\nCoroner.\\nEdward JV. Dickerson sworn.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What is your profession or occupation\\nA. I am an engineer. I have learned and practiced the\\ntrade of an engine-driver, and am now engaged in building a\\nlarge amount of steam machinery and boilers of different kinds.\\nI am also constantly and frequently occupied in running en-\\ngines of steamers, and experimenting on boilers.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Have you devoted much attention to the\\nsubject of boilers and their operations?\\nA. That is a subject to which I have paid a great deal of at-\\ntention during the last few years, and under circumstances, at\\ntimes, where the causes of explosions were the subject of criti-\\ncal investigation, and have had the benefit of the experience of\\nmany of the most experienced men in the country in some of\\nthose investigations.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Have you paid particular attention to the\\nmachinery of the double-enders, and if so, under what circum-\\nstances\\nA. I have, and under these circumstances When I first\\nsaw the general plans of them and their gross defects, I wrote\\na letter to the Secretary of the Navy on the subject, about\\nFebruary, one year ago, pointing out some of those defects,\\nand foretelling what would be the consequences, which conse-\\nquences have since all been realized and that led me to a care-\\nful and constant observation of their progress and their opera-\\ntions. I knew that they were very dangerous, and as early as\\nJanuary last, at the time of a trial of one of them, the Eutaw, in\\nWashington, I wrote a letter to the Hon. Henry Winter Davis,\\nwarning him of the danger there was of going on that trip, and", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "56\\nI hold in my hand now a letter from him, received to-day, in\\nwhich he says, I remember very well your warning about\\nthe Eutaw, and I bethought me of it when I read the catastro-\\nphe to which you refer, which catastrophe is that of the Che-\\nnango, his letter having been written in reply to one from me\\nin relation to that subject. In consequence of my representa-\\ntions to the Secretary of the Navy, a board of engineers was\\nappointed to consider my objections, and I have their report\\nhere, in which these boilers, for the purposes for which they\\nwere to be applied, were unanimously pronounced inferior by\\nevery member, including Mr. Bromley.\\nQ. Have you that report here\\nA. I have. (Eeport produced, and an extract read from\\nit as follows On the seventy-first page, the question was\\nsubmitted by the Secretary of the Navy in these words\\nWhether they (that is, these so-called Martin boilers) are su-\\nperior, equal, or inferior to others in use, in compactness, dura-\\nbility, efficiency, and proper adaptation to the conditions of the\\n-naval service. The answer is in these words On the whole,\\nwe are compelled to consider the type of boiler used in these\\nsteamers as inferior to the horizontal tubular boiler, which is\\ngenerally used by other nations and by this country in its mer-\\ncantile marine Five of that Board, including Mr. Bromley,\\nobject to so much of the foregoing answer as refers to the\\ncomparative economy of the different types of boilers, and de-\\nsire to state that in boilers occupying the same cubical space,\\nand excluding all other conditions at slow rates of combustion,\\nthe vertical tubular boiler has the greatest economical efficiency\\nand at a high rate of combustion the horizontal tubular boiler\\nis the superior in this respect; so that this Board unanimously\\ncondemned the boilers for every consideration except one, and*\\nthat one, they state, is not required in the Navy. I quote again\\nthe language The requirements of the service, however, dur-\\ning the past two years have been changed, and the power of\\nobtaining a high rarte of speed, when desired, has become of\\nparamount importance Notwithstanding that report, the\\nNavy Department is still making large quantities of these\\nboilers.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Was this report allowed to go out", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "57\\nA. To the best of my knowledge it has been kept quiet. The\\nNaval Committee in the House of Representatives called for a\\ncopy from the Department, but could not get it.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Can you give us any theory by which we\\ncan be enlightened as to the cause of this explosion\\nA. I was summoned by the Coroner to accompany the Jury\\nto inspect these boilers, and did so. I had seen a published\\nstatement in the Herald of Sunday, that the lead on the top\\nof the boiler was melted and as those first statements of the\\nfirst witnesses of an accident, before people interested have had\\ntime to consider how they will a/void the consequences, are\\ngenerally true, and as I had foretold, on the deck of this very\\nvessel, the danger she was in, I looked at once for the evidences\\nof superheated steam, and found them abundantly. The\\nlead-sheet had been melted down to a knife-edge, all around\\nthe aperture, where the superheated steam first escaped, and I\\ntore and cut with my knife several samples of it, some of\\nwhich I gave to the Coroner, having marked them, and on one\\nof which the globule of melted lead still adhered. The felt\\nalso around the edge of the rupture was burnt to a crisp, as\\nhair or animal fibres will be by superheated steam, and I\\npicked up some pieces of that, which I gave to different people,\\nand one of which I gave the Coroner the sample now shown\\nI recognize as one of them. I have also heard Mr. Martin\\ntestify that he had picked up a piece of burnt felt from the\\nsame place. I examined the wood of the deck in immediate\\ncontact with the burnt felt and melted lead, and it was not\\nscorched, nor was it possible that any fire from the furnace\\ncould have got there on the contrary, the engineer swore that\\nthe water poured back again from that same deck about the\\ntruth of which, I have no doubt whatever. That examination\\nleft no doubt as to the cause of the explosion on my mind, and\\nI have heard no suggestion from any other witness to lead to\\nany other conclusion than the common and usual one in such\\ncases that the steam was superheated. Within the last sixty\\ndays the steamer United States arrived here from Hartford,\\nhaving had low water and superheated steam, and exhibited\\nprecisely the same phenomenon. The felt was burned, and\\nthe solder in the steam-pipes was melted down and ran into", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "58\\nthe steam-chest by the hot steam. She did not explode, how-\\never, as this boiler undoubtedly did, but her boiler was de-\\nstroyed by the excessive heat. After seeing that evidence, I\\nwas entirely satisfied as to the cause of the accident, but I re-\\nquested the Coroner to get access below, telling him that the\\nmercury-gauge would tell the story there. After some delay\\nthe engine-room was opened, and we went there. At that time\\nI did not know any of the jury, and there were several persons\\npresent, among them Mr. Powers, the boiler inspector of\\nBrooklyn, who has been examined. I went directly to the\\nmercury-gauge with him a number of other persons stand-\\ning around. He got up on to a box, and adjusted the string\\nover the pulleys, at the head of the gauge, and then sounded\\nthe gauge with the float. The tell-tale went up about two and\\na half inches above the top of the scale, showing that about\\nfive inches of mercury that is, two and a half in each lug\\nhad left the gauge, if it ever was full to the zero point.\\nFinding just where the mercury was, I scratched with the end\\nof my rule the place on the board, and then suggested that\\nthe gauge should be taken down my object being to find out\\nwhat had become of the water, and how much mercury there\\nwas in the gauge. This gauge is a safety-gauge, constructed\\nfor the purpose of preventing the mercury being blown out\\nbodily, when the pressure of the boiler exceeded the scale, and\\nit has got two safety-checks on it the one a partition in the\\nbottom elbow of the gauge, not seen from the outside, through\\nwhich a small hole is drilled, which prevents the mercury from\\nbeing moved rapidly and the other is the bowl on the top of\\nthe gauge, which is covered tight, except a small hole, just\\nlarge enough to let the string pass out. The consequence of\\nthis arrangement is, that when the pressure of steam exceeds\\nthe weight of the mercury-*\u00e2\u0080\u0094 which in this case is from forty-\\neight to fifty pounds to the inch the mercury is forced up into\\nthe bowl, and the steam blows through it, making a tube for\\nitself in the heavy mercury, just as a spring of water bubbles\\nup through sand, carrying here and there with it a grain and\\nas this jet of steam blows through the mercury, it carries with\\nit by adhesion and friction, in fine globules, some of the glo-\\nbules of the mercury. If the blast were continued long", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "59\\nenough, it would blow it all out but, after a boiler explodes,\\nthe pressure falls immediately, and it does not last long in get-\\nting up. We took down the gauge, and found the water on\\ntop of the mercury on the outside. This water must either\\nhave been put there on purpose, or have been blown through\\nout of the one quarter of an inch pipe which leads to the gauge,\\nand which always has water in it from condensation, unless\\nwhen blown out for the purposes of very accurate observation.\\nThis gauge has no handle to the cock to blow out the water,\\nso that the engineer has to use a wrench and, in general prac-\\ntice, there is no occasion to blow it out at all. The fact that\\nwater was on top of the mercury is as conclusive that the gauge\\nwas blown through as the fact that mercury was out of the\\ngauge, if we knew that it was full before the accident. But\\nthe water indications are free from the errors that may be sup-\\nposed to exist about the adjustment of the tell-tale of the\\ngauge, for the water must have been blown through the mer-\\ncury with the steam, or have been put in afterward on pur-\\npose, which I presume no one would suggest as possible. And\\nthis silent testimony of the column of mercury, which has no\\npassions, and which donH care for the engineer-in-chief or\\nany one else, is worth more than all the witnesses in the world\\non the subject of pressure on the boiler for after an explosion,\\nthere generally none survive who could possibly know the\\nfacts, and in all cases of explosions undoubtedly the men who\\nare present and in charge think it is all right, or they would\\nnot be there yet for all that boilers explode all the time.\\nWhen these facts appeared, I told the Coroner what I now tell\\nyou, that it was a plain case of the ordinary kind of which\\nthousands have happened in this country and elsewhere, of an\\nexplosion from low water, and that I had no doubt it would\\nturn out that the engineer opened the throttle-valve, and there-\\nby produced the explosion in the usual way, which I will now\\nexplain. The testimony since has corroborated that view, and\\nleaves no doubt on my mind of the mode of the operation.\\nThe theory now generally received among engineers, and\\nwhich I have no doubt is true, is this When water gets low\\nin a boiler from any cause, the surfaces of iron have the fire\\non one side, and steam on the other, consequently the heat of", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "60\\ncombustion passes into the steam instead of into the water, and\\nmakes that steam as hot as the time and intensity permit.\\nMr. Frost, of this city, worked the steam so hot that it made\\nthe engines red hot through which it worked, and hot enough\\nto hum felt or melt lead. The felt on the steam chimneys of\\nsome of our boilers is burnt by the superheated steam, so that\\nfelt can not be kept on the chimneys. This heating of the\\nsteam does not increase the pressure in the boiler a particle,\\nbut it accumulates a vast reservoir of heat, into which, if hot\\nwater can be thrown, by the foaming of the boiler, or other-\\nwise, a vast amount of steam is instantly generated. When\\nthis heat thus accumulated is taken up in water, steam must\\nresult and the quantity that results must depend entirely upon\\nthe amount of superheated steam that there is in the chamber,\\nand the amount of hot iron there, combined with the amount\\nof hot water, in a finely sub-divided state, that is brought into\\ncombination with them. On this principle, Withered s super-\\nheating process operates but the explosion is regulated to a\\npoint of safety, and it consists of mixing a stream of super-\\nheated steam with a stream of saturated steam coming directly\\nfrom the boiler, and bearing with it more or less of water.\\nThat very apparatus has been put on one of these double-\\nenders, the Eutaw, and the Government engineers report that\\nthey have thereby increased her speed about two miles an\\nhour, and no doubt they have. They think they have got\\nit regulated to safety in that case but when it occurs in a\\nboiler without regulation, it is certainly destructive. Hence\\nsteamboat explosions always occur, so far as I know, when the\\nengines increase the draft upon the boilers, as when the boat\\nfirst leaves the landing and is making her third or fourth revolu-\\ntion, which on the Mississippi Eiver is the usual time of explo-\\nsion; and the reason is that when the engine increases the draft\\nupon the boilers, foaming is certain to take place if the organiza-\\ntion of the boiler will permit it at all, as all boilers will, if you\\noverdraw their capacity to supply steam at that pressure. At\\nthat moment the water that rises into the hot steam is of itself\\nturned into steam and the hot plates also give up their heat,\\nwhich is not very great in proportion to their weight. This,\\nI say, is the common theory of explosions. Whether it be true", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "61\\nor not, one thing is certain, that boilers do explode from low\\nwater, and they do explode when you open them. So that\\nthe opening of a safety-valve is of itself a cause of an explo-\\nsion, as I heard Mr. Martin and a number of other very ex-\\nperienced men testify to, in a recent case of explosion, in\\nwhich the boiler exploded, undoubtedly from the opening of\\nthe safety-valve.\\nIn order to explain to the Jury, in answer to a suggestion of\\none of the gentlemen, the difference between the effect of very\\nhigh heat and of comparatively moderate degrees of heat, in\\nconverting water into steam suddenly, I have brought Mr.\\nTyndall s book on Heat, and I refer to the one hundred and\\nseventy-second page. Those experiments are in accordance with\\nthe well-known law, that iron, heated above one thousand de-\\ngrees hot, will repel water, which will roll over the hot sur-\\nface like shot rolling over a table. Liquids will roll on\\nliquids in the same way, but at lower degrees of heat when\\nwater is brought in contact with hot surfaces, or is thrown into\\nsuperheated steam, it is instantly flashed into steam as in\\nthe experiment shown by Mr. Tyndall. And the quantity of\\nsteam which will be made simply depends on the amount of\\nsuperheated steam in the chamber where the mixture takes\\nplace. In running a boiler with low water, if the surfaces be-\\ncome red-hot, the water rolls over them in a spheroidal state,\\nbut the heat which passes through those surfaces is accumu-\\nlated in the steam-room above, where it exhibits its presence by\\nburning off the felt or melting the lead and it is a very common\\nthing to melt down the solder of the steam-pipe by this super-\\nheated steam. The force of the explosion of course varies\\nwith the quantities which are involved in producing it-; just\\nas one quantity of gunpowder will throw a ball a short dis-\\ntance, a larger quantity will throw it farther, more will burst\\nthe gun so that it just falls apart and hurts no one, and still\\nmore will throw the fragments of it out of sight. And yet\\nthey are all simply explosions. To apply that to this case.\\nThis boat left the Navy Yard at a quarter before three o clock,\\nas has been proved at Governor s Island she had twenty-six\\nand a half pounds of steam on the gauge, as Captain Fillebrown\\ntestifies five miles further the boiler exploded. Immediately", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "62\\nbefore trie explosion, trie engineer was occupied in taking in-\\ndicator-cards in a position where it was impossible for him to\\nknow any thing about the water in the boiler. Captain Fille-\\nbrown went below, and the engineer said, as the testimony is,\\nthat the engine was working better .thail he had expected.\\nThat would have been the condition of the engine if she had\\nbeen working hot steam. An engine works the best when the\\nwater is low and the steam is dry. The engine was throttled\\noff, as the cards show, at that time, and the pressure of steam\\nmarked upon them is thirty-four and a half pounds on the\\nboiler. That was within one half a pound of the regulation\\npressure of thirty-five pounds. The Captain said he would\\nthen go on deck and take the time of the boat. Now, at that\\nmoment, I suppose it is morally certain that Mr. Cahill pulled\\nopen the throttle-valves to give her the speed when she was\\nto be logged. [Note. Here a juror said that he thought this\\nreflected on the moral character of the engineer.] One of the\\njurors says that this is a reflection on the character of Mr.\\nCahill. In answer to that I say that that act has no connec-\\ntion with the moral character of any human being it is just\\nwhat any engineer would have done, what I would have done\\nin his situation, if I had supposed there was water in the boil-\\ners and he must have done that about that time, or else opened\\nhis fire-doors, whether the Captain came down-stairs or not\\nbecause the boilers had picked up steam from twenty-six to thir-\\ntv-four and a half in five miles, and he had but one of two al-\\nternatives to prevent the steam from going higher than the\\nregulations either to open the furnace-doors, or else let the\\nengine work up to its power and undoubtedly either he or\\nany other engineer would have preferred to use the steam that\\nhis fires were making than to open the fire-doors and cease\\nmaking steam more particularly, as they had been going less\\nthan nine knots an hour up to that time, according to the tes-\\ntimony of the Captain and the pilot s report. I meant no re-\\nflection on the virtue and moral character of Mr. Cahill. If\\nthe water was low at the .time when the throttle- valve was\\npulled open, the boiler was almost certain to explode and so\\nfamiliar is that principle, that when I cautioned Mr. Davis to\\nstand clear from the Eutaw, I told him precisely the time when", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "63\\nthe danger was in opening her; and the testimony of Mr.\\nSmith here last night shows the same operation exactly on\\nthe Metacomet, a twin boat. When the valves lifted but lit-\\ntle, there was but little water worked over from the boilers,\\nbut when they set the valves to open wide, which was neces-\\nsary to work the engine up to her power, they could not keep\\nany water in the boilers, and had to re-set the valves so as not\\nto open freely to the holier.\\nQ (by Coroner.) Do you think the boiler burst from a press-\\nure gradually applied, or from an explosion\\nA. I think it is as plain a case of explosion as ever I have\\nseen, not a case of bursting by gradually accumulating press-\\nure. The inherent evidence in the boiler itself, aside from the\\nfact that there was super-heated steam there, is conclusive to\\nmy mind of this. One of the certain indications of an explo-\\nsion, as Mr. Tyndall shows, like gunpowder, is the fact that\\nthe boiler gives way in the strongest as well as the weakest\\npart, which is not possible if the rupture resulted from gradu-\\nally accumulated steam for steam increases its pressure more\\ngently than you can load a scale with feathers. It took here an\\nhalf an hour or more to increase eight pounds, by a gradual\\nincrease. In looking at these braces, we find that those lugs\\nthat are only five eighths of a square inch of iron strong, were\\nstrong enough to shear off two five eighths bolts, as Mr. Max-\\nson testified to-day and we have here two of those five eighths\\nbolts, supported on both sides by lugs, and screwed up with\\na nut, nearly sheared off by a lug only five eighths strong,\\nwhich did not give way. We have here a three quarters bolt,\\nwhich took only half the strain which the lug supported, bent\\nup a quarter of an inch, when it was also supported on both\\nsides of the point of draft, and screwed up by a nut. Then\\nwe go further, and find a three quarters pin, which sustains\\nonly one fourth part of the strain, which this five eighths of\\niron put upon it in the lug, having the impress of the T iron\\nsunk into it, perhaps the thirty-second part of an inch, and\\nthat also was held on each side of the angle iron by the jaws-\\nof a suspender and you can see the lump on it where the ter-\\nrific squeeze raised it over the angle iron support that it rest-\\ned on. Now, I suppose that no man in his senses believes it", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "64\\npossible for five eighths of iron under graduaLpressure to en-\\ndure a weight that would sink four of those pins that way, or\\nbuckle up two of those three-quarters bolts that supported it\\nand I have no doubt that this one three-quarters bolt, placed\\nin a jaw as it was placed, would hoist that boiler out of the ship\\nwithout parting the bolt. This five eighths would stand about\\nforty-five thousand pounds without breaking, which would be\\nabout eleven thousand pounds on the pin that is sunk into the\\nangle iron; and eleven thousand pounds would produce no\\nmore effect on that pin than it would on the connecting rod of\\nthe engine, in the way of sinking it. Secondly, if this boiler\\nhad been carried away by gradual pressure, it would have\\nparted these lugs in their weakest spot, not drawn out through\\ntwo holes above here more than a quarter of an inch, which\\ntwo were much stronger than that weakest part and then the\\ntop of that boiler would have buckled up like a dome, and\\nbrought up against the deck, not split from end to end through\\nthe strongest section. It is quite a common case for boilers to\\ncarry away their braces with steam, and to lift the deck over\\nthem, and burst nothing.\\nThe proposition that a boiler will stand a pressure of six-\\nty pounds of cold water to-day, and burst with thirty-five\\npounds of steam tomorrow, is sheer nonsense. The lives of all\\ntravelers of steamboats in this country depend xipon the cer-\\ntainty that that is false for the only security which we have\\nis the fact, that their boilers have been pumped up with cold\\nwater to one third more pressure than the steam they carry,\\nwhich fe the limit fixed by statute law, and under which law no\\nboiler has ever yet given way, unless by low water, or by burn*\\ning out the steam chimney. I\u00c2\u00a3 it were likely, as Mr. De Luce\\nsaid, that boilers would blow up after cold-water pressure, we\\nshould have a Coroners inquest once a day at least. And our\\nsafety in sitting in this room depends upon the fact that those\\niron rods holding the roof up-stairs do not change their minds\\nor natures, and that God s laws are never suspended in the uni-\\nverse an instant. When an explosion occurs, however, w T ith\\ninstantaneous rapidity, the pressure is accumulated so quickly\\nthat time enough is not afforded for the weak parts to give\\nway and relieve the strong parts just as a cannon-ball, which", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "65\\noffers but a very weak resistance compared with the strength\\nof the gun itself, will yet resist enough to burst the cannon,\\nbecause time is an element in all motion, and in all destruction\\nof matter; and if the pressure accumulates too quickly, the\\ntime is not given for relief at the weakest point. This boiler\\npresents those phenomena on every inch of its rupture, be-\\ncause it broke transversely to the angle iron, which made it\\nimmensely strouger in that direction than it was in the direc-\\ntion where the angle iron did not run. Those are the inhe-\\nrent evidences that this was an explosion, and not a bursting\\nfrom over-pressure gradually accumulated which two effects\\nare perfectly distinct in their operations, and well known to be\\nso. Aside from those inherent evidences, there are others\\nequally conclusive. The safety-valve, it is proved by Mr. De\\nLuce, will blow off at less than forty. Therefore, if the steam\\nrose above forty, it would blow itself off at the safety-valve,\\nand every one on board ivoidd hear it, and it is well established\\nhere that no such effect was produced. It is equally certain\\nthat the mercury-gauge was blown through, which required\\nforty-eight pounds, as it Was proved to have been filled. It\\nwould have required forty-six, as we saw it and examined it\\nand yet the water was blown through the mercury and was on\\ntop of it. It would have been impossible with the safety-valve\\nopening at less than forty, to have accumulated by a gradual\\naccumulation, steam enough to have exceeded forty-six,\\neven if no living being had been on board to have stopped\\nthe generation of steam after the safety-valve had begun to\\nblow. But if it were an explosion, that pressure was picked\\nup instantly, like the explosion of gunpowder. The safety-\\nvalve affords no relief although undoubtedly it flew open\\nabout the same time that the mercury went out of the gauge,\\nand the deck went up. The succession of events is like that\\nof shooting with a gun between the time it is touched off\\nand the object is killed, it is not worth while to hold a watch.\\nIt is certain, therefore, if Mr. De Luce correctly states the safe-\\nty-valve facts, that this explosion was so rapid that no one had\\ntime to notice the lifting of the safety-valve, which is the com.\\nmon fact in cases of explosions. Then the boilers being burnt,", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "66\\nas Mr. De Luce said, was merely corroborative of the evidences\\nof sitperheated steam, which existed beyond and above that.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you consider these boilers safe in the\\nhands of second and third assistant engineers, such as are now\\nemployed in the Navy\\nA. I certainly do not nor do I consider that organization\\nsafe in the sense in which that phrase is generally used, in any\\nman s hands. I believe that in the hands of an experienced\\nand thoughtful man, people would not be killed on those\\ndouble-enders but it is demonstrated here to a certainty,\\nwhich I do not think will be disputed by any body on any\\nside of the question, when the figures which I shall show\\nyou are produced, that these boilers, as arranged and organ-\\nized, are liable at any time in five minutes to get low-water,\\nand become dangerous and that the same sort of vigilance is\\nnecessary about that organization as is required in walking\\nthrough a powder-magazine with nails in your shoes. I saw\\nthis engine running, as I saw others running, and I then said\\nthat a man carried his life in his hands, as was also said by Mr.\\nKiggin, who was running the engine during her ninety-six\\nhours trial at the dock. The opinions which I now give as\\nto the danger of explosion on these double-enders, were formed\\nand put in writing before this accident happened, so that I\\nam not a witness after the fact, and they were founded upon\\nthese facts, some of which have been proven here. 1st.\\nThat working slowly at the dock not more than nine turns a\\nminute water came out of these boilers in such quantities\\nthat a man had to stand guard constantly to assist the self-\\nacting relief-valves to let it out of the cylinder. I then took the\\ndrawing and measured how much water must have been worked\\nover, and here is that drawing, which I should be glad to have\\nMr. Martin examine, who is here in court, to see that there is\\nno mistake. When the engine worked water enough to strike\\nthe piston, the total amount is sixteen hundred and thirty-eight\\npounds of water pumped out of the boiler by that engine\\nwhile the quantity of water that the steam which ran the\\nengine required is only about nine pounds of water to a\\nrevolution. So that these engines were taking sixteen hun-\\ndred pounds of water and nine pounds of steam at a turn,", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "67\\nand 1 could not see how that was a safe operation, any\\nway that it could he used. The clearance and nozzle in\\nthis engine at the lower end of the cylinder is fourteen aDd\\nfour-tenths cubic feet; at the upper end it is eleven and\\neight-tenths cubic feet At the Morgan Works the piston\\nwas driven the sixteenth of an inch up the piston-rod, by\\nfetching up on solid water. [Here the witness was inter-\\nrupted by Mr. Martin, who said that he could show engines\\nmuch larger than these, which had not half as much clear-\\nance.] I agree, however, that there are engines vastly larger\\nthat have no such amount to be filled, but that does not alter\\nthe fact about these engines. 2d. These engines have a feed-\\npump nine inches in diameter, and thirty-four inches stroke.\\nThat pump delivers seventy-two pounds of water at a revolu-\\ntion, while the engine takes, in steam, only nine pounds; and yet\\nthat pump could not supply the water which the engines worked\\noverboard, and they had to use a donkey pump in aid. I\\nhold in my hand the indicator diagram of the Pawtuxet, on\\nwhich the figures are to be seen, made by me long before\\nthis explosion. I wish Mr. Martin to examine it and see if\\nthey are not correct. These indicator diagrams show precisely\\nhow much water, in the shape of steam, the engine uses, just\\nas a pint-cup will measure the contents of a pail. The amount\\nof coal burned during the trial is also proved, and by compar-\\ning the two, it is reduced to a perfect certainty how much\\nsteam those boilers made, and how much went overboard in\\nthe shape of water. The indicator diagram of the Chenango\\nhas also been proved before you and her coal. In the one case\\nthere was only three and four-tenths pounds of water evapor-\\nated per pound of coal consumed; and in the other case only\\nfour pounds. The boilers, how r ever, if properly arranged,\\nwith steam room enough and chimneys, will evaporate, I sup-\\npose, seven pounds more is claimed for them.\\nThe difference in heat was used up in the water which the\\nengine worked over and it requires about sixty pounds to\\na revolution, to take over that heat, and this, you see, agrees\\nalso with the other fact which has been proved here, that a\\nseventy-two pound pump is not sufficient to supply the boilers.\\nAnd here the difference appears between the Martin boiler in", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "68\\nthe Colorado and her class, and the Brooklyn, and these hollers.\\nIn these boilers the dry pipe (so catted, perhaps, because it al-\\nways wants water) is only about eighteen inches above the level\\nof the water, and when this action, which has been described\\nby Mr. Martin and Mr. Kellogg, occurs, of the rushing up of\\nwater through these tubes, it has but a short distance to go to\\nthrow that water over the dry pipe whereas, in the Colorado\\nand her class there is nearly six feet above the top of the tubes\\nand under the shell, and there is a chimney of two and a half\\nfeet above that from which the steam is drawn and therefore\\nthe difference in the two results. This drawing of the Colora-\\ndo s boilers shows pencil-marks made by me long before this\\nexplosion, to explain how that water is thrown up. The steam\\nis mostly made on the furnace, and it forces its way out of the\\npipes, making each one a sort of a squirt-gun whereas, in this\\nboiler, as arranged by its inventor, Mr. Montgomery, there is\\na reflector-plate above the furnace which prevents the steam\\nfrom the crown-sheets from using those tubes to squirt\\nthrough.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) Could not these reflector-plates be put on the\\nboilers of the double-enders\\nA. Yes, they could, and that would make them safe. It\\nwould require, however, that the patent fee should be jpaid to\\nMr. Montgomery, and that would spoil the game.\\nAnother fact which shows the danger is this these boats\\nare about nine hundred tons they have two hundred square\\nfeet of grate-bars, ox thirty more than the City of New-\\nYork, and the large steamers of Long Island Bound have.\\nYou have heard that burning a fast fire on these two hundred\\nfeet of bars, this boat was going between eight and nine knots\\nan hour only whereas, those big boats, about twice her size, go\\nregularly more than thirteen knots an hour. The immense\\npower of that combustion has got to be used somewhere. It\\ncertainly does not drive the boat, and is only used to pump\\nthe water out of the boilers, and so keep it circulating through\\nthe condenser, and back again except, as in this case, where\\nsome of it was used to produce a Coroner s inquest. I will give\\nyou one comparison by which you can see the certainty of\\nthis truth. The very day after this disaster I ran the engine", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "69\\nof another ship, called the Oriflamme, over the same track to\\nsea; she is a ship, and not a single-deck boat; she was draw-\\ning thirteen and a half feet of water, which would sink the\\nChenango she has only one hundred square feet of grates, with\\nthe same cubic contents of engine as this she ran, with natural\\ndraft, all the way to the bar, eleven knots an hour, beginning\\nwith fifteen pounds of steam pressure, and never having more\\nthan twenty -two; while this vessel, drawing less than nine feet,\\nturning twice the amount of coal, carrying steam from twen-\\nty-six to thirty four pounds, was only going nine knots an hour.\\nI propose to show you that these defects in these boilers are\\nwell known and recognized by the Engineering Bureau which\\nbuilds them. The Engineer-in-Chief, under the authority, as\\nis stated in his book of the Wavy Department, published a vol-\\nume, in which certain statements are made, the substance of\\nwhich is, that boilers in had proportion, prime or work water\\nbadly, and that in such cases a superheating apparatus will to\\na certain extent remedy that defect. But he says, There are\\ninsuperable objections to the use of superheated steam, even with\\nbad boilers some of which objections are stated, and the con-\\ncluding one is as follows Particularly on account of its dan-\\nger and the complicated system of val/ves thereby entailed, for\\nprovision must be made for shutting it off at a moment s notice\\nand resorting to the use of saturated steam. Notwithstand-\\ning that publication recognizing its danger and the reasons for\\nits use, they have applied that superheating apparatus already\\nto one of these double-enders, and the patentee is here in town\\nnow with a large amount of orders to apply this dangerous ap-\\nparatus on other of these boilers and he shows now three hun\\ndred thousand dollars worth of these orders, which he is now\\ntrying to have cashed in Wall street.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) Would not a superheating apparatus placed\\nbetween the boiler and the engine tend to dry the steam and\\navoid the dangers of explosions\\nA. I think it would not avoid the probability of explosion,\\nbut it would put into the organization a chronic condition of\\nsuperheated steam, which, when the engine was stopped, would\\nmake a hot place to create an explosion when it was started\\nagain. It would, however, dry the steam, and improve the", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "70 m\\nspeed of the boat but it would not diminish the probability of\\nworking water from the boiler, because the water is worked\\nfrom the boiler simply in consequence of the draft of steam by\\nthe engine in conjunction with the malconstruction of the boil-\\ner itself, and when the water starts from the boiler it does not\\nknow whether it will be pumped through the engine or heated in\\na superheater. The difficulty is not in the way the steam is\\nused, but in the fact that there is a draft on the boiler which\\ncauses the water to foam. The danger of knocking out the\\ncylinder-heads will be diminished but there is substituted for\\nit an additional danger, which this book properly describes\\nand it is only the substitution of one disease for another, when\\nthere is no necessity for either.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Are the braces in this boiler made according\\nto specifications?\\nA. The specifications prescribe the manner in which, and, in\\nsubstance, the number of braces which shall be fixed to the top\\nof the boiler, and gives the sizes of the T iron, which is to sup-\\nport the roof; but it does not prescribe the manner or number\\nof lugs which are to secure the opposite end of these suspen-\\nsion-braces. But it requires that the boiler shall be so braced\\nas to stand a cold-water pressure of sixty pounds, leaving it\\nto the discretion of the builder, and to the orders of the super-\\nintending engineer of the work, how the braces shall be secured\\nat their lower ends. In this case it appears that thirty-two\\nlugs were used to hold sixty-four suspenders, which was an\\namount that, in the judgment of the boiler-maker and of the\\nUnited States Inspector, was sufficient for the purpose and\\nthere was no requisitions in the specifications that there should\\nbe any more, or as many, provided there were enough to stand\\nthe test. When it seemed here that there were sixty-four of these\\nlugs, I calculated the bursting strain, assuming that there was\\nno strength whatever in the roof itself, and it is about one\\nhundred and fifty pounds to the inch. It now appears that\\nthere were but thirty-two of them, and it would require sev-\\nenty-five pounds to the inch, if there was no strength in the\\ntop, to part those lugs and it does appear, as a matter of\\nfact, that the boiler did endure a greater strain than sixty\\npounds cold-water pressure, so that I say that the specifica-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "71\\ntions were complied with; and it was in the power of the\\nUnited States Inspector to have ordered one hundred lugs, if\\nhe had wanted them, since that point was left to the discretion\\nof the Inspector.\\nQ. (by Juror.) In the construction of boilers, does it not\\nalways require a large allowance for the imperfection of work-\\nmanship, the unequal drawing of stays, and other imperfec-\\ntions that may occur during the construction of the boiler\\nA. It does and that allowance is made and provided for\\nhere. They have provided to carry thirty-five pounds of\\nsteam on the boilers, and they required them to bear the cold\\ntest of sixty pounds that is the margin of safety. In passen-\\nger-vessels, however, the margin is narrower than that, and\\nsixty pounds of cold pressure entitles, forty -five pounds of\\nsteam to be carried, and experience of many years has shown\\nthat to be perfectly safe. In the merchant service, in one third\\nof the cases where I have been present, braces are carried away\\nin testing but when replaced a certificate is given, and the\\nboilers are considered as safe as if the accident had not hap-\\npened.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Why do you suppose this boiler was stayed on\\nthe sides at every sixty-four inches square, and on the top of\\nit it is braced at every four hundred and eighty square inches\\nA. I do not know the mind of the man who designed the\\nboiler, but you could not brace the top every eight inches\\nsquare, without using the tube-box for that purpose, and tak-\\ning out tubes, which would be very unnecessary, and would\\nnot increase the strength any, provided the thirty-two you have\\ngot had a total strength as great as would result from three-\\nquarter socket-belts, eight inches square.\\nQ. (by Juror.) You have stated to us that in looking for the\\nevidences of superheated steam, that you discovered at the\\npoint of rupture that the felting was scorched and the lead\\nmelted, which was conclusive evidence to you of its presence\\nwould not the entire top of that boiler have shown the indica-\\ntion of scorching that there was at the opening\\nA. I did not expect to find any such result elsewhere than\\naround the aperture through which the superheated steam\\nescaped, because the time that the engine had been running", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "72\\nwith low water, I supposed, was probably not sufficient to\\ntransmit the heat through the iron shell, and so into and\\nthrough the atmospheric space, and beneath the lead, which is\\nan excellent non-conductor but I am since informed by a gen-\\ntleman here in court, that he examined elsewhere, and found\\nscorched felt in other places.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Does not felt scorch very easily, and with or-\\ndinary pressure used\\nA. No, sir, it does not and it is impossible to scorch felt\\nat two hundred and eighty-three degrees Fahrenheit. It is\\ncommon, however, to scorch felt on the outside of steam-chim-\\nneys, which are\u00e2\u0080\u009ea superheating apparatus, and where the iron\\noften gets red-hot on the inside of the chimney. Saturated\\nsteam at thirty-five pounds is about two hundred and eighty-\\nthree degrees hot it takes six hundred to melt lead and I\\nsuppose more than that to burn felt.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Would not the water and saturated steam flow\\nimmediately through such a rent as this, in sufficient quanti-\\nties to prevent burning, or the melting of lead?\\nA. The lead is cut down by the superheated steam which\\ncomes first it is followed in order by the heavier material\\nbut a jet of superheated steam, or a jet of hot air in a hot\\nblast-furnace, will cut a piece of lead instantly, and that is the\\ntest of temperature that is used in hot blast-furnaces. In this\\ncase, the edge of the lead over which the steam had blown is\\ncut down to a knife-edge whereas, if it had been torn by the\\nrupture, it would show its thickness and be ragged. The heat\\ncuts down the lead to an edge, just as a piece of candy is melted\\nto an edge in the mouth.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Will not all these facts apply to wood as well\\nas to lead\\nA. No, sir. The heat which will melt lead will not set fire\\nto oak-wood but steam has been superheated by Mr. Per-\\nkins, until it would set fire to wood but that can not be done\\nin a steam-boiler, because the heat requisite for that would be\\nso great on the uncovered iron surfaces as to make them soft,\\nand come down. It can be done in an apparatus on purpose.\\nA stick of wood is used to stir melted lead, without charring\\nit and the specific heat of lead is extremely small, smaller", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "73\\nthan mercury, so that it requires the least heat of any metal to\\nmelt it. The specific heat of lead is three hundred and four-\\nteen ten thousandth parts of that of water, whilst the specific\\nheat of mercury is three hundred and thirty -three ten thou-\\nsandth parts of water. Wood requires a great deal of heat to\\nheat it, and is, therefore, very slow in raising its temperature,\\nwhen subjected to heat.\\nQ. (by Juror.) On what basis did you make your calculations\\nthat those thirty-two lugs would bear a pressure of seventy-\\nfive pounds to rupture the stays\\nA. The cross-section of one of those lugs is five eighths of a\\nsquare inch of iron. The Ulster iron of that lug is warranted\\nto bear seventy-five thousand pounds to the square inch. It will\\nrupture between eighty thousand and ninety thousand pounds.\\nTaking it at eighty thousand for a rupture, these lugs would\\nrequire fifty thousand pounds to break them twenty-two thou-\\nsand pounds was the pressure on a lug, if there were sixty-four\\nlugs, at sixty pounds to the inch. That would be forty-four\\nthousand, on thirty-two lugs, at fifty thousand pounds strength,\\nwhich I assumed as the rupturing strain, and which disregards\\nthe support from the side-arches to the first set of braces, which\\ntake half of the strain so that the amount I thought to be about\\nseventy-five pounds but the pressure it would endure must be\\ngreater than that, because when you begin to tighten out these\\nbraces, and take the spring out of the half-moon, you bring into\\naction, first, a considerable strength of T iron, and second, you\\nhave got the top drawn like a drum-head inside of four support-\\ning arches, and it requires, like a drum-head, a very large force\\nto budge it out; but as a plain strain, it was about seventy-five\\npounds when you take the half distance around the edge.\\nshould not he afraid to stand on that holler with seventy-five\\npounds of saturated steam in it.\\nQ. (by Juror.) If this boiler throws its water out through the\\ntubes rapidly, as described, acting almost as a squirt-gun, and\\nlifting it so that it is ever carried over into the engine, why\\nwill not this same operation saturate superheated steam, and\\nprevent the causes of explosion, so fully described\\nA. This boiler, like all water tubular boilers, will permit the\\nwater to get lower than the top sheet in the tube-box with", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "74:\\nsafety, and during that time, as Mr. Kellogg has correctly said,\\nit will lift the water over that top, and will make it seem at\\nthe gauges as if there was really solid water there. That opera-\\ntion in Dimpfell s water tubular boilers is so violent that they\\nhave to put a plate over the top of the tubes to keep any water\\nin the boilers. But the limit to that operation is when the\\nwater gets very low and up to that time the water would be\\njerking through the tubes, and sometimes fail to go through, as\\nthe struggle between that tendency and the diminished supply\\nof water went on. Meanwhile, the gauge would be indicating\\nwater at times, and the engine would be getting drier steam\\ncontinually, until finally the water is too low for that opera-\\ntion, and then the point of danger has arrived. If at that time\\nthe throttle he opened, and the demand increased, the water, too\\nlow to rise under the less demand, must come up under the\\ngreater, and the explosion occurs so that this quality up to a\\ncertain point is an element of safety against carelessness, but\\nis also the means of deceiving the observer of the gauges, as to\\nthe quantity of water in the boiler. The fact of the Pawtuxet\\ncase is a perfect illustration, proved by Mr. Baker. He thought\\nhe had plenty of water. When he shut down the engine,\\nthe water all disappeared and, to save his life, he drew the\\nfires from the furnaces immediately, and it took twenty-tioo\\nminutes to pump up water enough to show in one gauge. He\\nwas in the same peril as these people here, and that was on the\\nvery day after this accident, with the same organization.\\nAdjourned to Thursday, April 28th, at three P.M.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) You say that if the water was low at the\\ntime the throttle- valve was pulled open, the boiler was almost\\ncertain to explode and so familiar is that principle, that when\\nyou cautioned Mr. Davis to stand clear from the Eutaw, you\\ntold him the precise time when the danger was on opening her.\\nIs this not the case in all boilers?\\nA. Yes, if water is low, and the boiler charged with super-\\nheated steam, the tendency of opening the throttle- valve is to\\ncause the rising of water in a finely subdivided state into the su-\\nperheated steam. I hold in my hand a copy of the testimony of\\nMr. Martin, in the case of an explosion of a boiler in Connecti-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "75\\ncut, where the mode of operation is correctly stated by him,\\nwhich I will read as my opinion also If pressure is liberated\\nby lifting of the valves, the steam beneath has a tendency to\\nrise and equalize itself, and in so doing brings up water with\\nit. I have seen this in a glass boiler. When water comes into\\ncontact with superheated steam, it is suddenly flashed into\\nsteam the meeting of superheating steam and water makes the\\npower as quick as fine gunpowder. All boilers whatever will\\npermit the water to rise to a greater or less extent, whenever\\nthe pressure overhead is relieved faster than the generation of\\nsteam will supply it, for the plain reason that in that case the\\nheat which is stored in the water is given off in the shape of\\nsteam from the entire mass of water; whereas, when the supply\\nand the demand are exactly equal, there is no change in the\\ntotal quantity of heat that exists in the water but whether\\nthat tendency is sufficiently powerful to fill the boiler with\\nfoam so that it will overflow the steam-pipe, depends upon the\\nproportion the steam-room and the amount of heat per minute\\nthat is expended upon a given amount of surface. Now in this\\nboiler, for illustration, if the steam-room was six feet high, and\\nthe steam taken from the top of the steam-chimney, and only\\nabout nine pounds of coal were burned per hour upon a square\\nfoot of grate, as in the case of the frigates I have mentioned,\\nthis foaming tendency would he counteracted hut in this case\\nthe steam is drawn about eighteen inches above the water level,\\nand the fires burn fast, so that the water does rise into the steam-\\npipe.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is the theory of explosions you have given\\nus the one generally received\\nA. I believe it to be so among the most intelligent engineers\\nI have known in this country, although we hear people talk\\nabout electricity and other mysterious causes but one thing is\\nagreed to by all, which is, that low water and opening of the\\nvalves do produce explosions.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is the tendency to work water inherent in\\nthe vertical tubular boiler, or does it depend on the peculiar\\nconstruction in each case\\nA. All boilers work some water with their steam. Mr. Mar-\\ntin, in this same case, testified, I think, correctly, That what", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "76\\nis called pure steam carries about twenty- eight per cent of wa-\\nter with it all steam carries water with it but superheated\\nsteam. The tendency to work water is therefore a compara-\\ntive one, and that is not peculiar to vertical tubular boilers,\\nbut depends upon their peculiar organization. Thus, the ver-\\ntical tubular boilers in Hecker s mills work no water in the\\ncommon-sense of that term, and evaporate perhaps more than\\neight pounds of water into steam to the pound of coal where-\\nas, these boilers on the double*enders, as the cards show, get\\nless than four in steam the last result depending upon had\\norganization of the same general elements which compose the\\nother, and they illustrate what is correctly described in the\\nNavy -Book as boilers which prime badly from malpropor-\\ntions. Yet if it was considered necessary to put the vertical\\ntubes on top of the furnaces instead of behind or on one side\\nof them, and then to crowd the whole arrangement under these\\nlow decks, I do not know how that bad proportion could be\\nremedied. It could be, to a great extent, corrected by a reflect-\\ning plate over the furnace, as shown on the drawing on the ta-\\nble. But it is quite obvious that on these vessels exposed to\\nshot, the vertical tubes have no right to be placed on the top\\nof the furnace, for it makes a target of the boiler, and so I\\nwrote to the Secretary of the JVavy about fifteen months ago,\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Could not these boilers have been braced\\nmore strongly than they were\\nA. Undoubtedly they could, if that had been the requisition\\nof the specification. There would be no trouble in making\\nthem stand three hundred pounds to the square inch, if so de-\\nsired, by the use of iron enough.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What would have been the effect if this\\nboiler had been braced stronger\\nA. A much greater destruction than did occur, which is il-\\nlustrated in very familiar cases. On the Mississippi Eiver the\\nboilers generally will bear four hundred pounds to the inch,\\nand they carry one hundred and forty by law. When they do\\nexplode the destruction is terrible in proportion to the strength\\nwith which it was resisted. A common locomotive-boiler will\\nbear between three hundred and five hundred pounds to the\\ninch, and I saw one immediately after it exploded standing in", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "77\\nthe shop of the Eogers Locomotive Works at Paterson, with\\na safety-valve set at fifty. The power which exploded it was\\ncertainly not less than four hundred pounds to the inch. The\\ncrown-sheet in the furnace came down, and the boiler went up,\\ncutting through two floors, which had two eighteen-inch gird-\\ners immediately over the locomotive, through another floor\\nand the roof, and it fell back and lodged on the iron arch of\\nthe great doorway, whence it was removed by a tackle that\\nhad to be sent for from New- York. Great numbers of persons\\nwere killed, and the heavy batten doors at the back end of the\\nshop, about one hundred and fifty feet from the locomotive,\\nwere blown out of the fastenings, as were all the sashes in the\\nbuilding.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) In view of that fact, how do you account for\\nthis boiler keeping its place in the vessel and showing a rup-\\nture of only about twelve inches\\nA. In that case the crown-sheet of the furnace came down,\\nleaving the unbalanced pressure which corresponded with the\\narea of that crown-sheet all acting upward, so that the boiler\\nwent up on the same principle that a sky-rocket does. If the\\ntop of that boiler had given way, then the pressure would\\nhave been directly downward, and the boiler would not have\\nleft its place. If the end had given way, the boiler would\\nhave shot out of that house in a horizontal line. The reason\\nwhy it did so much destruction was that the boiler was im-\\nmensely strong, just as a cannon must be immensely strong in\\norder to do damage. If it had given way at eighty pounds to\\nthe inch, it would have done but little injury. In the Che-\\nnango case the boiler gave way at the top, so that the force of\\nexplosion was all downward, and the boiler could not have\\nbeen moved from its place by the explosion except in a direc-\\ntion opposite to that in which the steam escaped, which in this\\ncase was directly downivard, and the bottom of the ship prevent-\\ned the boiler from going through, it being supported by an im-\\nmense surface in proportion to the size of the opening, which\\nmeasured the amount of pressure which drove the boiler down-\\nward. In the case in Connecticut referred to, a vertical boiler\\nhad the head blown off, and a large house was thoroughly de-\\nstroyed, yet the boiler never stirred from its position, simply", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "78\\nbecause the disturbing force was directly downward on it.\\nOn the Mississippi Kiver, however, in the case, I think, of the\\nHelen McGregor, where the engine had been slowed in turning\\nbefore Cincinnati, and then opened again, some of the boilers\\nwent through the bottom of the boat, and some went into the\\nair for immense distances, according as they gave way on the\\ntop or bottom. The name of the Helen McGregor I may assign\\nto the wrong vessel, but the accident happened before Cincin-\\nnati.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) This boiler was parted in the centre with\\ngreat violence. Should not the ends have been displaced\\nA. That depends entirely upon the strength of the end brac-\\ning at the opposite ends. If that were strong enough to hold\\nthe ends without the aid of the top, there would be no tenden-\\ncy whatever in the direction of the ends, simply because the\\nopposite pressures at the two ends exactly balance each other\\nwhereas, the hole being made in the top, the unbalanced pres-\\nsure was all downward. It is precisely the case of a sky-\\nrocket, in which the pressure sidewiseon the paper tube is ex-\\nactly as great as the pressure upward and downward but as\\nthe confining force blows out downward, and the rocket is\\nstrong enough to hold the pressure sidewise, as this boiler was,\\nthe whole force of the explosion is spent on the sky-rocket in\\nthe direction directly opposite to that in which it has given\\nway. Tarn the rocket point downward and you have the\\ncase of this explosion. All the force is spent in pressing down-\\nward, the opposite sides being strong enough to contain it in\\na sidewise direction; and if the bottom is strong enough to\\nhold the squeeze, the rocket will stand still.\\nQ. (by Juror.) You have told us that this boiler broke through\\nits strongest section. Is not the weakest section across its\\nlength\\nA. If the strength of material were equal in both directions,\\nthe longer line would be ruptured rather than the shorter one\\nbut in this case the T iron ran in the direction at right angles\\nto the rupture, thereby vastly increasing the strength in that\\ndirection since, in order to break the boiler across their line,\\nnot only the shell had to be broken, but they had all to be\\nbroken, and their strength is about equal to that of the shell", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "79\\nwhereas, if the boiler had split in the opposite direction, it\\nwould only have been necessary to split the shell itself,\\nwithout parting any angle iron just as it is easier to split the\\nroof of a house between two rafters than it is to split that\\nsame roof crosswise, and to break all the rafters at the same time.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is the tendency to explode affected to any\\ndegree by the strength of the boiler\\nA. Neither the tendency to explode nor the fact of explo-\\nsion is in any way affected by the strength of the chamber\\nin which it occurs and no boilers have ever yet been made\\ncapable of resisting an explosion when it does occur. Cannon\\nhave been made in that way, but that sort of thickness is not\\nadmissible on boilers. If .you apply a hydraulic press to a\\ncannon with a ball in it, no appreciable strain can be put on\\nthe cannon, because the ball yields to the hydraulic pressure\\nwith such ease the pressure being gradual that no strain can\\nbe induced by its resistance. Now that cannon illustrates the\\ncase of a boiler with a weak place in it, and no greater strain\\ncan be put upon the cannon or the boiler than the weak\\nplace can endure, if gradually applied, whether that strain be\\nof steam or water but if you burn gun-cotton in the can-\\nnon it will go to pieces, simply by the resistance of that ball,\\nwhich a child can roll out of it if you give him time. And if\\nyou flash an explosion of steam into the boiler, it will, like\\nthe cannon, give way, as well in the strong place as in the\\nweak one.\\nQ. (by Juror.) You have told us that the idea that a boiler\\nmay explode at a less pressure than it was tested at with cold\\nwater is absurd. May not a bar of iron be drawn by a\\npressure, and thus weakened, and yet not be perceptible to\\nthe eye\\nA. I presume it may, but there is no connection between\\nthat fact and my proposition.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If the stays of that boiler were elongated\\nby pressure, however slightly, and yet not ruptured, would\\nnot the boiler work, and yet be liable to give way under a less\\npressure\\nA. I think not, and for this reason. I think it altogether\\nprobable that in most cases of testing boilers some of the stays", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "80\\nor fastenings are elongated or bent, but after that, the pressure\\nhas come to a state of rest on the boiler, in which the combined\\nstrength of all the stays brought into action has been sufficient\\nto arrest the extension of those that were first drawn upon.\\nAt that point the strength of resistance equilibrates or exceeds\\nthe pressure. If it did not, the whole series of braces would\\nkeep on stretching, constantly relieving the pressure, and\\nshowing its effect on the gauge and if the attempt were con-\\ntinued to accumulate the pressure, of course the braces would\\ngive way. Because when you once begin to elongate iron\\nunder a strain, it donH stop until that strain stops also, and\\nthe time that it takes the boiler, either to carry away the braces\\nor to bring all the strength of the braces into such action as to\\narrest the bursting force, is vastly less than the time the pres-\\nsure is held on the boiler by any pumping operation. The\\nlaw on that subject is, that, unless the elasticity of metal is\\novercome, it will sustain a given weight forever.\\nQ. (by Juror.) In Tredgold, vol. two, page seventy-four, it is\\nremarked that the elastic force of steam or vapor produced by\\nincreased temperature ceases to follow the same law, when it\\nis not in contact with the liquid from which it is formed. Again,\\nin page sixteen, same volume, steam at a temperature of one\\nthousand one hundred and fifty degrees is about the same vol-\\nume of water, and would cause a tension or pressure equal to\\nfour thousand one hundred and thirty-seven atmospheres;\\nand in the same volume, page twenty-three, we have Pam-\\nbour s tables bringing down the volume of steam compared\\nwith water, in practical effects. I would ask you what you\\nconsider a separation of steam from water is it in a sepa-\\nrate vessel, or can it be surcharged in immediate contact with\\nthe water?\\nA. Steam may be superheated, either in the presence of\\nwater, or out of its presence that fact has no effect on the\\nsuperheating operation. As, for instance, a red-hot poker put\\ninto the steam on the top of your tea-kettle will superheat\\nthe steam with which it comes in contact, and it would super-\\nheat it if there was no water in the kettle and as the su-\\nperheated steam is specifically lighter than saturated steam, it", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "81\\nrises to the top of the other, just as the hot air in this room\\nrises up to the ceiling.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is it not usual to superheat steam by passing\\nit through a separate heating chamber from that in which the\\nsteam was generated\\nA. That is not usual, but it has been done in some cases.\\nThe Collins Company spent a vast amount of money in trying\\nto make that work. They scalded their fireman on the Arctic\\nin one of their earliest efforts, and gave that up. They spent\\nabout forty thousand dollars a piece on the Atlantic and Baltic,\\nto put Withered s superheating apparatus in those ships, and\\nthey took them out after about two voyages, finding no advan-\\ntages meanwhile keeping their engineers in a wholesome dread\\nof their lives. One of those machines has been recently put\\nin the Butaw, a mate of the Chenango thereby largely increas-\\ning her speed, as it is reported. Those are the only cases I\\nhave known in this country but I find that there is a large\\nnumber of them now being constructed by the Navy De-\\npartment, to be put in combination with these boilers,\\nwhich I have no doubt will make meetings like this more\\nfrequent.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you know of superheating pipes being\\nplaced in the chimney of the Cunard steamers, and if so, state\\nwhat they are\\nA. Yes. I know of them, and they consist of a series of\\npipes placed in the up-take, through which the steam passes\\nfrom the boiler to the engine, and which serve the purpose of\\nthe ordinary high steam chimneys. They are perfectly safe so\\nfar as explosions go, their only danger being their liability to\\nscald a fireman, by being burned out although where they\\nplace them the temperature is low enough to render that dan-\\nger insignificant.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Are they heated by fire, or by heat from the\\nchimney\\nA. They are heated by the refuse heat which has already\\nbeen practically exhausted on the surfaces of the boiler, and\\nwhose temperature, in ordinary circumstances, does not exceed\\neight hundred degrees Fahrenheit.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Are they not often enveloped in flame\\n6", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "82\\nA. I was never in there with the fire, and have no personal\\nknowledge but if it be true that flame often is burning\\nthere, the boilers must be worse than I suppose the Cunarders\\nuse.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Would not the gases, at all events, be so hot\\nthat they often ignite at the top of the chimney\\nA. I have crossed the ocean in the Cunard steamers, and\\nnever isaw any such fact as that although if such a fact did\\nexist, it would not prove the presence of flame in the up-take,\\nbut the contrary. Such a phenomenon, however, is common\\non the East River boats, driving fires with blowers, which the\\nCunard line does not use. I would add, however, that where\\nsuperheating pipes are used in so hot a place, as the gentleman\\nsupposes, they are very soon destroyed, and have been aban-\\ndoned on account of such destruction especially in cases where\\nthe engine has to be stopped frequently, and where the currents\\nof steam are thus prevented from passing through those pipes.\\nThere are patented contrivances, I think, for maintaining an ar-\\ntificial circulation there when the natural one is thus suspended,\\nin order to preserve the pipes.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) Is not that superheating apparatus a separate\\nvessel, heated out of contact. with the water?\\nA. It is not a separate vessel, and the steam is not heated\\nout of contact with water, in the sense in what Mr. Tredgold\\nuses those expressions. What he means by a separate vessel\\nand out of contact with water is a vessel which does not\\nhave in itself any water, or which is not in free communication\\nwith a vessel which contains water. The coil of pipes in the\\ncase supposed forms a part of the steam -room of a boiler, and\\nis open freely to it. Mechanically it may be called a separate ves-\\nsel, just as a steam drum or a steam chimney may be called\\na separate vessel from the boiler, because any of them may be\\ndetached, and the boiler be still left. But so long as they are\\nin open communication with each other, the pressure which\\ncan be permanently maintained is regulated by the temperature\\nof the surface of the water, and is precisely coincident with it,\\nhowever hot you may make any particular cubic inch of steam\\nwhich floats above it in the same chamber. If, however, you\\nput steam in a separate chamber without water, then its pres-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "83\\nsure will be increased by increments of beat, in the same\\nmanner tbat the pressure of air in a bladder is increased by\\nbeing held before a fire.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) In your evidence, Mr. Dickerson, that you\\nconsider the boiler safe at seventy-five pounds of pressure, which\\nhas been stated at about fifty thousand pounds tension on each\\nof the thirty-two stays, looking around us in the shops and manu-\\nfactories of the United States, seeing block and tackle used\\nfor lifting weights, and hydraulic-presses constructed with\\ncolumns to resist direct tension, do you still think it was at all\\nsafe to put seventy-five pounds on that boiler, without any\\nconsideration of superheated steam, but simply of the bursting\\nby the action of ordinary steam\\nA. What I said was, that I should not fear the consequences\\nof putting seventy-five pounds of steam pressure on those boil-\\ners, and I have no doubt that that would be unattended by\\nany danger but I did not say, or mean to say, that it would\\nbe proper to work these boilers in use so near the bursting\\nstrain as that but I did say, and now repeat it, that I know of\\nno more certain thing in science or art than that a boiler which\\nwould endure sixty pounds of cold pressure is safe beyond a\\npossibility of doubt, to carry forty -five pounds of steam and\\nI put my life upon that certainty, without any fear, con-\\nstantly, as do all people who travel upon steamboats in the\\nUnited States.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) Here is a chain having a sectional area the\\nsame as the broken stays. In a table of the strength of cables\\nin Haswell s Pocket-Book, page 258, and in which the proof is\\nstated is from twelve and a half to thirty per cent, greater than\\nwhat is stated in that table, as requisite for the United States\\nservice, it gives the proof strain of nine-sixteenth chain, and the\\nproof strain is five tons, or ten thousand pounds. Here is a\\nchain where the proof strain is rated at twenty-five tons, or\\nfifty thousand pounds do you still think that there should be\\nsuch a difference of proportion under the circumstances\\nA. I have not heretofore expressed an opinion on the relative\\nstrength of chain-cables and boiler-braces, and therefore I do\\nnot still adhere to any opinion about their relative strength\\nbut if my opinion is desired on how strong a chain-cable ought", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "84\\nto be, I will give it to you. A chain-cable, like boiler-braces,\\nought to be made, and I have no doubt is made, as strong as\\nexperience has shown to be necessary. Experience has shown,\\nthat in boilers, braces need not be more than one-third stronger\\nthan the pressure of steam which is required to be carried on\\nthem, and therefore both by statute law and by custom, all boil-\\ners in the United States are constructed on that ratio. Experi-\\nence has also shown that a ship riding to an anchor slacks up and\\njerks upon a cable with terrific violence, making it necessary to\\nhave that cable many times stronger than would be needed to\\nendure a constant and uniform strain. If aboiler was construct-\\ned to slack its stays up eight or ten feet, and then jerk them out\\nagain as a ship does with its cable, then the same proportions\\nwould have to he observed in both cases but so far as my\\nobservation goes, I have never seen a boiler perform in that\\nway. As to whether Mr. Haswell s proportions are correct, as\\nhe is an accurate man, I presume they are, and no doubt have\\nbeen arrived at, by adding by degrees to the strength of cables\\nin use in particular cases where they have broken, until expe-\\nrience has reached the point of safety.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) In chains used in the manufactories of the\\ncountry, for lifting heavy w T eights, and when they are not sub-\\njected to the tremendous surging, as in the particular instance\\nstated, do they not follow generally the same ratio of strength?\\nA. I have no idea that people who buy chains follow any\\nratio at all. I presume, as a general thing, that people buy\\nthe cheapest chains that they think will do the business that\\nthey want done. There is no law regulating how much weight\\na man shall put on chains; but there is a law of Congress\\nwhich has been in force many years, regulating the pres-\\nsure on marine boilers, under which law all marine boilers\\nin the country are licensed to carry three quarters of the\\nsteam pressure which they will endure from cold water, and\\nthe experience of many years has shown that to be perfectly\\ncertain and safe. I have had occasion to use and purchase\\nchains to lift ore out of a mine of which I am the engineer. I\\nselected chains which I thought sufficient for the work. I used\\nthem until they wore out and broke, and then bought another,\\nbut I never looked at Mr. Haswell s book to see which kind I", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "85\\nshould buy, there being no law governing those cases. A chain,\\nhowever, is the weakest possible form in which iron is worked\\nunder tensile strain, for reasons well known to engineers, but\\nprobably not important enough for this case to be stated in\\ndetail.\\nQ. (by Juror.) When Mr. De Luce testified that there was\\nthirty-two stays, when the general impression was that there\\nwere sixty-four, and when the Court seemed to pause with\\ndoubt at the statement, and some actually disbelieved it until\\nMr. De Luce was requested to have another witness go into\\nthe boiler and testify to the same effect, did you not say u Of\\ncourse, if Mr. De Luce s statement is correct, that settles the\\nquestion\\nA. I do not recollect my precise words, but there was a con-\\ntroversy going on between the Coroner and Mr. Inslee as to\\nwhether there were thirty-two or sixty-four stays, when I re-\\nmarked that the testimony of Mr. De Luce seemed to be con-\\nclusive on that question. I do not remember the precise words,\\nbut I remember the idea very well, and I presume Mr. Inslee does\\nalso. My remark had no reference to any question except that\\nin dispute at the time, which was, how many lugs there were in\\nthe boiler. Before that question was settled, I had said here that\\nthe boiler must have had one hundred and fifty pounds or\\nmore on it when it gave way. When the number of stays was\\nsettled, of course my view of the explosive force was necessarily\\nreduced in the same proportion.\\nQ. (by Juror.) You would give the jury to understand, then,\\nas the sum of all the facts and deductions in the course of your\\nevidence, that the Martin boiler is dangerous and unfit for use?\\nA. No, sir. I did not say so. I did say, and about that I\\nhave no doubt, that the Martin boilers arranged in the propor-\\ntions and beneath the decks of the double-enders, are eminently\\ndangerous in any hands. If, however, the large amount of\\nsteam room and steam chimney used on the frigates were ap-\\nplied to them, that extreme dangerous condition in which these\\ncircumstances place them would cease to exist, but that is not\\npossible in these low-deck vessels,\\nQ. (by Juror.) The Monitor or horizontal tubular boilers, of", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "86\\nwhich I produce a tracing, are placed in similar circumstances\\ndo you not think they are equally dangerous\\nA. Undoubtedly not. They are in effect the locomotive-\\nboilers, and experience has demonstrated that a locomotive-\\nboiler can be run and hold its water with exceedingly small\\nsteam room, and without a dry pipe while experience in water\\ntubular locomotive-boilers has also demonstrated the necessity\\nof plates situated above the delivery apertures of the water-\\ntubes, against which the water ejected from the tubes can\\nstrike, and by which it is driven back, in order to run\\nthat sort of tubes on a locomotive-boiler and on the three\\nsets of boilers proved here before you, two of which I my-\\nself saw, it is established beyond a question or doubt, that with\\nthe throttle-valve and steam-valve working wide open, water\\ncan not he Jcept in those boilers except by jumping into them\\nfrom six to ten times as much water as the steam required for\\nthe engine uses. I have run locomotives long enough to know\\nthat water will stay in those boilers without any difficulty, and\\nthat from six to seven pounds of evaporation can be got out\\nof them in steam to a pound of coal.\\nEdward K Dickerson.\\nSworn to before me, this 28th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.\\nJohn Maxson, sworn, says I reside 94 Gold street, Brook-\\nlyn. I am a boiler-maker for twenty years past. I am in the\\nGovernment employ at the U. S, Navy-Yard. I went inside\\nof the boilers of the Chenango to examine the braces and the\\nextent of the damage done inside. This was done by orders of\\nMr. De Luce, Chief Engineer of the Yard. I found thirty-two\\nbraces proper, but thirty-six braces all told. Above there was\\nsixty-four stays, but the lug is the brace of the boiler.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How many tube-boxes are there in the\\nboiler\\nA. According to the drawing, there are five.\\nQ. How many T rails are there on the top of the boiler\\nA. There are eight.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "87\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is there not coming from the rail to each side\\nof the tube-boxes a brace\\nA. There is not but they are zigzag, one brace from the\\nrail to each water space only.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Will you point out on the plan how these\\nbraces draw from the rail above to the side of the tube -box\\nA. Witness explains to the jury, showing but one brace in\\nevery three feet nine inches on the length of the rail the braces\\nare twelve inches apart the other way.\\nQ. (by Juror.) From the inside of the boiler and personal ob-\\nservation, counting the lugs to which the roof of the boiler is\\nstayed on the flat surface, are there only thirty-two lugs\\nA. Yes.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Did you examine the height of the water in the\\nboiler that exploded\\nA. I did it was sixteen inches below the bottom of the tube-\\nbox. This was caused by the rent running so far down on the\\nsides of the boiler, and which extended below the roof of the\\nfurnace.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Would not the boiler in its present condition\\nshow a line of water about seven inches below the roof of the\\nfurnace\\nA. I think it would, in its present state. I have never seen\\nother boilers braced like the boiler in question.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Suppose you had a boiler tested that had\\nbeen built under your charge, and it stood sixty pounds cold-\\nwater pressure, would you consider that boiler, so far as brac-\\ning was concerned, safe enough to run\\nA. I would consider it safe at forty pounds of steam. I\\nwould take into consideration the particular plans of bracing, if\\nI knew the boiler had stood the test of sixty pounds.\\nQ. Then you do not consider the testing of boilers worthy of\\nconfidence\\nA. I do not.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If after the hotter had ~been tested at sixty-\\npounds, you entered it and found the bracing and all of its ap-\\npurtenances unimpaired by the test, would your confidence be\\nstrong enough to run the boiler without any apprehension of\\ndanger, at forty pounds f\\\\", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "88\\nA. It would. I would regard the braces sufficiently strong\\nfor the purposes for tohich they were made. I think there is\\nabout one half of the lugs broken, and the remainder half are\\nbolts of braces broken. They are broken like the one now-\\nshown. ^The bolts broken are sheared off. I have been accus-\\ntomed to build these boilers. I have built some twenty-five or\\nthirty. I had charge of the Morgan Works for one year. I\\ngenerally try to brace them twelve inches square, and more fre-\\nquently eight by ten, with three eighths boiler-iron for the\\nshell. I put the lugs from two to two and a half inches wide,\\nfrom five eighths to three quarters of an inch thick.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you put the braces zigzag, as you have de-\\nscribed before\\nA. I put them opposite to each other, and double the num-\\nber of lugs that I find in this boiler, the braces being suffi-\\ncient in the boiler for double the number of lugs. There is\\nno reason why this boiler could not have been stayed with\\ndouble the number of lugs. There never was any accident\\nhappened to any of the Martin boilers I ever built, with one\\nexception, which was the fault of my workmen leaving out\\nsome of the braces. The boilers I refer to were not built for\\nthe double-enders. The boilers of the Fulton are the same height\\nin chimney as the Martin boiler. There is more steam-room in\\nthe Fulton boilers than there is in the Martin boiler. I think the\\nsteam-room is sufficient in proportion to the boiler.\\nJohn Maxsok\\nSworn to before me this 27th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nGeorge /Sewell, sworn, says I am a Chief Engineer in the\\nUnited States Navy. I was General Inspector. This particu-\\nlar set of boilers were about completed when I assumed the\\nduty of General Inspector. These boilers were subjected to\\n-the required hydrostatic pressure, and were reported to me by\\nthe local inspector as in good condition, and standing the press-\\nure well. The duplicate of that report is in the General In-\\nspector s office, 48 John street, New-York. I also saw these\\nboilers under steam, during their ninety-six hours trial, at the", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "89\\nwharf. From my recollection, I made what is considered a\\nfavorable report of their performance, so far as being tight and\\nworking well, a copy of which report is in the General Inspec-\\ntor s office, 48 John street. I never heard any complaints\\nfrom the Chief Engineer of the vessel, Mr. Cahill. There were\\nseveral unimportant things complained of after the vessel was\\ntaken to the Navy Yard by the Chief Engineer of the ship, Mr.\\nCahill, all of which I ordered rectified, and which I believe\\nwas done, as I have heard no further complaints on the sub-\\nject. The boilers in particular, I wish to say, were never com-\\nplained of in any manner, shape, or form by the Chief Engineer\\nof the ship, Mr. Cahill. My object in being so particular in\\nmy statement relative to the boilers is owing to the fact that I\\nhave heard it stated that the Chief Engineer of the ship had ex-\\npressed his fears in regard to the safety of these boilers. I do\\nnot recollect whether Mr. Cahill was on board of the ship dur-\\ning the ninety-six hours trial.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did he make a favorable report to you of the\\nboilers after he took command and worked the ship himself?\\nA. He made several complaints about trifling things around\\nthe engine, but never had any fault to find with the boilers. I\\nasked him on several occasions if every thing was all right and\\nto his satisfaction if not, to make out a report to me, embrac-\\ning those things that did not suit him. He mentioned several\\nnot very important things, which I ordered the Local Inspector\\nto have attended to, and which I have every reason to believe\\nwas done, never having heard any more complaints. The Meta-\\ncomet is one of the same type as the Chenango. I was on\\nboard of the Metacomet on the trial, and went down the bay in\\nher, during which trial the engines and boiler performed in a\\nvery satisfactory manner. There was no unusual foaming of\\nthe boilers, and no unusual amount of water let out of the\\ncylinder through the valves placed there for that purpose, and\\nwith the exception of adjusting the steam exhaust-valve to the\\ndesired point of operation, the report was highly favorable to\\nthe success of the machinery and boilers. The engine made, I\\nthink, as high as thirty-one revolutions per minute for a short\\ntime, and by the pilot s land-marks, between which he turned", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "90\\nthe vessel, he pronounced her as going at the rate of sixteen\\nmiles per hour.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Were the valves on that trip lifted?\\nA. We stopped once to adjust them, that is to say, give more\\nlead, to enable the engine to pass the centres more smoothly*\\nShe lifted no water worthy of note nothing unusual for new\\nboilers on an engineer s trial trip. We used a small quantity\\nof salt water on the trip, which will always be the case to a\\ngreater or less degree to all vessels fitted with an apparatus to\\nsupply the boilers with fresh water, except when an evaporator\\nhas been supplied to make up for the loss of fresh water by\\nleaks. There might have been some few unimportant leaks in\\nthe boiler, but none worthy of remark. A copy of my report\\nof the trial is now in the General Inspector s office, No. 48\\nJohn street, New- York. The valves were not ordered to be\\nreplaced by me on the return of the vessel to the Navy Yard,\\nbut the alteration was then made a permanent one, so far as the\\narrangements of bows, lock-shaft, lock-shaft arms, etc., would\\npermit. The arrangements of the last-mentioned things was\\nsuch as not to admit of the alteration being carried to the extent\\nthat I desired hence it was somewhat modified from what I\\ndesired to do.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Did you expect that the stays in that boiler\\nwould be attached to the tube-boxes with sixty-four lugs or\\nthirty-two lugs\\nA. I expected they would be attached to the places shown\\nby the drawing for them, and in the number called for, which\\nthe Local Inspector, who had the immediate supervision of\\nthem, should have had done.\\nQ. (by Juror.) From examining that drawing of the boiler\\nshown, (Chenango s boiler,) do you expect that the sixty-four\\nbraces would be attached to thirty-two lugs\\nA. I should consider from the drawing presented that each\\nlug was intended to receive but one brace-rod.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Have you formed any opinion as to the\\ncause of this bursting or explosion\\nA. Yes, sir, I have. From what I have heard from the en-\\ngineers of the navy, who have made a critical examination of\\nthe boiler, from some cause or other all the braces did not keep", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "91\\nan equal strain or pull, which may be the result of the impro-\\nper fitting of the braces when put in, or may have resulted\\nfrom some of the braces having been removed after the vessel\\nhad been delivered into the charge of the Government, for pur-\\nposes of examination of the boiler. They may have been care-\\nlessly, or they may have been improperly, replaced, care not\\nhaving been taken to see that each brace was equally tight.\\nIf one brace should be tighter than another, or take in more\\nstrain, it would be very apt to give way, which would bring an\\nundue strain upon the next brace, and might cause that to give\\nway, which, giving way one after another, must necessarily re-\\nsult in rupture to the shell of the boiler. I have seen one case\\nin particular where the rupture to the boiler was from that\\ncause.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think this bursting took place by an\\nexcess of tension on the boiler at a less pressure than it was\\ntested at, and by saturated steam, or do you think it was an\\nexplosion caused by excess of heat and deficiency of water in\\nthe boiler, so as to be superheated steam\\nA. If that Jiad been an explosion, as such things are general-\\nly understood, the destruction of woodwork and other material\\nin the vicinity of the boiler would have been one hundred\\ntimes as great as what it is. It is simply a rupture. I was on\\nboard of the boat the Monday following the disaster for five or\\nsix minutes. I think every thing goes to show that it was\\nsimply a rupture, and not an explosion, as the damage to the\\nvessel is very trifling.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Then you consider it a rupture from satu-\\nrated steam, at a less pressure than the testing pressure\\nA. I can not speak of my own knowledge, as I have not\\nseen the indicator-cards, said to have been taken a moment be-\\nfore the rupture, and which indicator-cards are said to show a\\npressure of thirty-four and a half pounds, and I see by looking\\nat them now, is the number of pounds marked. I do not con-\\nsider that a boiler subjected to a heavy hydrostatic pressure\\nis any evidence that it will not give way at a less pressure\\nthan that which it has been tested successfully, as it may be\\noverstrained in some of its parts by that very test, and corre-\\nspondingly weakened. The Chief Engineer has the right to", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "92\\ngo in the boiler and do as he pleases, so long as he does not\\ndestroy any thing.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Would such an important transaction oc-\\ncur, as the removal of braces, without some report being made\\nof the circumstance\\nA. If the Chief Engineer of a steamer desires to go into the\\nboilers, for examination or any other purpose, it is oftentimes\\nnecessary to take down or cast braces loose, to enable him to\\nreach or accomplish the desired object he has in view. After\\ncoming out of the boiler, the braces are ordered to be replaced,\\nwhich is a very important point, be it observed, that all of\\nthem are so adjusted as to be equally tight, that each brace\\nmay take its due proportion of the strain. If that is not pro-\\nperly done, the boiler is correspondingly weakened. Whether\\nsuch was the case or not, I am unable to say.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How comes it that this boiler stood a ninety-\\nsix hours test and several hours working at the dock before\\ngoing on her voyage, and not show any defects, if any existed,\\nand at the time of the explosion the indicator-card only showed\\na pressure of thirty -four and a half pounds of steam\\nA. I do not think that during the trial of ninety-six hours\\nthat she had a greater pressure than twenty-five or twenty-six\\npounds of steam to the square inch. If my memory serves me\\ncorrectly, I think twenty-five pounds of steam is the pressure\\nrequired to be maintained during the ninety -six hours trial,\\nbut the degree of pressure which would cause a boiler to give\\nway, after having been satisfactorily tested by hydrostatic pres-\\nsure, will depend entirely on how much the material of which\\nit is constructed has been overstrained or injured by the hy-\\ndrostatic pressure.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Would the steam that would produce a\\nburst be hot enough to melt lead and scorch felt\\nA. I have seen felt scorched on the boiler of the United\\nStates steamer Susquehanna, from a steam-leak under a pres-\\nsure of some fifteen pounds to the square inch. The felt after\\nthe shell of the boiler is first in order, and then the lead.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Would you, then, consider steam at the tem-\\nperature you speak of sufficiently hot to penetrate through\\nthat felt and melt down lead to globules", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "93\\nA. I do not think it would.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If Mr. Cahill opened the throttle-vale of the\\nChenango, when the Captain was going on deck to throw the\\nlog, would it not be with a view to deceive the Captain in re-\\ngard to the speed of the vessel\\nA. If possible, it would be necessary, first, that I should\\nknow at what point of opening the throttle-valve was at that\\ntime, before I could answer the question intelligently. He\\n^would be justified in further opening his valve if he had steam\\nto maintain his increased supply.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If Captain Fillebrown told Mr. Cahill, when\\nhe left the engine-room, to go on deck, that he was going to\\nthrow the log, or time the ship, and Mr. Cahill opened the\\nthrottle-valve after the Captain left the engine-room, what ob-\\nject could he have had in view for so doing?\\nA. To give the vessel her maximum speed.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If at the time Mr. Cahill was supposed to\\nhave opened the throttle, the water was low in the boiler, what\\nwould be the result\\nA. From the position of the throttle shown by the indicator-\\ncard, it could not have made any difference in its level, as it\\nwas open sufficiently to give all the steam that the cylinder\\ncould take.\\nAdjourned to Friday, April 29th, at 3 P.M.\\nExamination resumed on Friday, April 29th.\\nContinuation of Mr. George Sewell s examination as follows\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Suppose the water to be low enough to ex-\\npose heated surfaces, what would result after such lifting of\\nthe water\\nA. The result would be an increase of the generation of\\nsteam. Under certain circumstances, an explosion would take\\nplace, if the boiler had already a very high tension upon it if\\na very large portion of the heating surfaces were unduly\\nheated, an explosion would probably result. Again, if the\\nboiler had a moderate pressure or tension upon it, and a small\\nquantity of tfie heating surfaces were exposed, an explosion\\nwould not necessarily result.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "94\\nQ. (by Coroner.) You said that the felt on the boilers of the\\nSusquehanna once burnt so as to be smelled all over the ship,\\nwhen only fifteen pounds of pressure were carried. I find by\\nthe tables that saturated steam at that pressure is only two\\nhundred and sixty-one degrees Fahrenheit hot do you mean\\nto say that felt will burn so as to give out the odor of burning\\nhair at that temperature\\nA. It actually took place, of which plenty of evidence can\\nbe procured. I have never investigated the temperature at\\nwhich hair will char or burn. There was apprehensions among\\nthe officers of the ship, that the ship was on fire.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did not that boiler carry more than fifteen\\npounds, at times, and if so, did the felt burn then\\nA. I think that eighteen or nineteen pounds was the limit\\nwhich she carried felt did not burn at those pressures, simply\\nbecause there was no leakage of steam coming in contact with\\nthe felt on the boilers.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did not the double-enders in use carry more\\nthan fifteen pounds, and does their felt-covering burn, so as to\\nbe contracted into a crisp, like the sample shown\\nA. I have never seen a steam-leak from any of the boilers\\nof the double-enders that had access to the felt on the boilers.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) I find that the temperature of steam at\\nthirty-five pounds is two hundred and eighty-three degrees\\nFahrenheit will that burn felt to a crisp like this sample? If\\nso, does it do so on the other double-enders you have seen\\nwork\\nA. I have never investigated the subject as to what degree\\nof temperature, or under what particular circumstances, hair-\\nfelt would begin to burn or char. I simply mention what I\\nhave seen.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is not the melting point of lead six hun-\\ndred degrees Fahrenheit\\nA. To the best of my recollection it is.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) When water is low in a boiler by which\\nI mean so low as to uncover the iron surface below which the\\nfire is acting is not the steam overhead superheated\\nA. It is, to a greater or less degree, depending upon the", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "95\\namount of surface, and the degree of temperature by which it\\nmay be overheated.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) In that condition, is there not a danger of\\nexplosion\\nA. That would depend upon the tension to which the boiler\\nis subjected at the time, and the rapidity with which steam is\\nwithdrawn from the boiler for supplying the engine.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) It is proved here, by Mr. Baker, who ran\\nthe engine of the Pawtuxet in Rhode Island, the day after this\\nexplosion, that he supposed there was water enough but when\\nthe throttle-valve was shut off, the water was reported to be\\nfoaming that he at once drew the fires to save his life, and\\nthat it required a steam-pump twenty -two minutes to pump water\\nenough into the boiler to be seen in the gauge. Do you con-\\nsider that boiler to have been in danger of an explosion at the\\ntime when the shutting off showed the true condition of water?\\nA. I do not, if he hauled his fires at that time.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is it any more likely that the men in\\ncharge of that engine should have been deceived as to the true\\nstate of the water than that the men in charge of the Chenango\\nshould have been deceived?\\nA. They may have been less versed in such matters, therefore\\nmore likely to have been deceived and I consider it a reflection\\nupon any engineering department, in any of the steam vessels\\nthat would be caught in that fix, particularly with a new ves-\\nsel, when it is possible to always know, within a very few\\ninches, the water-level in the boilers. Every engineer has it\\nin his power, at all times, to ascertain the height of water in\\nthe boiler, by simply shutting the throttle-valve in the steam-\\npipe and arresting the flow of steam in the cylinders. No mat-\\nter how badly the water may have been foaming, it would at\\nonce settle, or if it does not do so perfectly and to his satis-\\nfaction, putting on cold feed-water to the boilers, or opening\\nthe furnace-doors for a moment, will be certain to accomplish\\nit. I was on board of the Pawtuxet during her ninety-six\\nhours trial, at the wharf at Providence, R. I., and I saw no evi-\\ndence of the foaming of the boilers, nor heard any complaints\\nof such a thing having taken place. Every thing performed\\nremarkably well, so much so, that I observed to the contractor,", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "96\\nMr. Gardner, of Providence, that my office was to find fault\\nthat I was very happy to say that I could not do so in this\\ncase. This refers to the ninety-six hours^ trial, not to the trial\\ntrip.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) It has been sworn to by Mr. Smith, that\\nhe set up and ran the engine of the Metacomet that after the\\ntrial trip to which you referred yesterday, the rock-shaft was\\nordered to be so altered as to lift the steam-valves higher than\\nit had done, as it was originally set by him and that he did\\nso alter the rock-shaft as to increase the opening of the valves.\\nDo you mean to be understood as contradicting this statement?\\nA. I ordered it done, so to give the necessary opening or\\npassage for steam to reach the cylinder, that the flow of steam\\nmight be as ample as the cylinder required, when performing\\nits maximum duty.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Mr. Smith also swore, that after the change\\nthe boat was again run, and the water worked over so badly,\\nthat it was difficult to keep the boiler supplied, and that the\\nsalt feed had to be used for that purpose. Do you wish to con-\\ntradict that statement\\nA. If my memory serves me correctly, and I think it does,\\nthere was no trial made after the arrangement was permanently\\nmade and I have learned since she reached her station in the\\nWestern Gulf Blockading Squadron, that the performance of\\nthe engine and boilers during the passage was highly satisfac-\\ntory and gratifying. This information was imparted to me by\\nan intimate friend of the Chief Engineer of the Metacomet,\\nwho had received a letter from him containing that informa-\\ntion.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Mr. Smith, also swore that, after that trial,\\nhe was ordered by Mr. Brooks, which order he said came from\\nyou, to replace the rock-shaft as it was before the alteration,\\nand that he did so, at the Navy Yard. Is that statemeut true?\\nA. I have no knowledge that such an order was given Mr.\\nBrooks.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) About how many of these double-enders\\nare ordered, or in progress of construction\\nA. I think there is nine in course of construction now a\\nnumber has been finished.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "97\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Are they all like the Chenango in their\\nengine and boiler\\nA. In principle they are all alike, with one exception.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How many have been already tried?\\nA. Some fourteen or fifteen have made the necessary trials.\\nSome are on their stations.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) About how many are yet in port, awaiting\\norders or crews\\nA. About six.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) It is proved here that these boilers, on trial\\nat the dock, required the salt water to be blown out every\\nwatch, to keep down the salt saturation in the boilers. Is that\\nthe way that surface-condensers usually operate\\nA. I contradict that statement. It was not necessary to\\nblow them down at every watch it may be necessary wherein,\\nfrom defective workmanship, the condenser is not tight, and\\nthe salt water is allowed to mingle with the fresh.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Would that difficulty be avoided by the\\nuse of an evaporator, which you spoke of yesterday, as needed\\nto supply the waste of fresh water, by leaking around the boil-\\ners and engine\\nA. That plan has been adopted in several cases, but has\\nbeen abandoned for two causes First, it was not found to be\\nan absolute necessity secondly, that the use of an evaporator\\nmultiplies the amount of machinery, such; as cocks, pipes, and\\nso on, to an extent that it is desirable to avoid, and, therefore,\\nnot considered as a profitable appendage to steamships.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Does not the indicator-card show the valve\\nwas open only five eighths of the opening when it was taken\\nIs it not so written on the card\\nA. It is written Throttle 5, which is shown by the card to\\ngive an area equal to the opening through the steam- valves in\\nthe steam-chest.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Will not the engine work faster with wide-\\nopen throttle than five-eighths open\\nA. That will depend upon the relative area between the\\nmain steam-valves and the throttle-valve.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) The steam was at twenty-six and a half\\npounds at Governor s Island, and thirty-four and a half at the", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "98\\nNarrows is it not certain that the boiler was making more\\nsteam than the engine was using\\nA. Certainly; when the steam was at twenty-six and a half\\npounds, the engineer might have closed the throttle-valve, so\\nas to allow the steam-pressure to reach the point he desired,\\nwhich it would do in a very few minutes if the throttle was\\npretty well closed.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Was it not proper then, when the pressure\\nhad risen to the regulation amount, to open the engine, and so\\nwork it off\\nA. After the steam had reached the desired point, the engi-\\nneer would naturally regulate the opening of the throttle-\\nvalve to such a point as to maintain the desired steam pres-\\nsure.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Were there more braces put in the Meta-\\ncomet s boilers than were called for in the specifications, and if\\nso, for what reasons\\nA. I am unable to say they were not ordered to be put in\\nto my knowledge.\\nQ. (by Juror.) If the water in the boiler had been up to the\\nrupture, and within seven inches of the furnace-room, and the\\ngreat quantity of water overflowing immediately after the\\nbursting, and from the active state of agitation of the steam\\nand water, from its constant circulation, from the boiler to the\\nengine, through the condenser, and returned back into the\\nboiler, do you think it possible that superheated or explosive\\nsteam would be generated in that boiler\\nA. I think not, from all the circumstances, that has been de-\\nveloped in connection with case.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is not the steam during foaming really su-\\nperheated saturated steam, and all the processes of drying\\nsteam in the boiler simply to bring the steam into its normal\\ncondition, that is, saturated steam, with its volume, density,\\nand tension again\\nA. All these contrivances are simply to bring steam into its\\nnatural- or normal condition.\\nQ. (by Juror.) What in your opinion constitutes superheat-\\ned steam Can it exist to any extent in a boiler in contact with", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "99\\nthe water, or must it be in a separate heating vessel for that\\npurpose\\nA. Superheaters are generally separate arrangements from\\nthe boiler proper, but it may be heated in the boiler.\\nQ. Does the presence of superheated steam indicate itself by\\nthe pressure-gauges\\nA. If you confine it, it will, because you increase its vol-\\nume, and therefore the pressure of superheated steam would\\nindicate itself by a thermometer.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is not the indication on the pressure-gauges\\nthe same as that of heated air, and not that of water\\nA. If you confine it, it is.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do not explosions mostly occur, in your\\njudgment, from superheated steam?\\nA. I think that is the case on the Mississippi Eiver, but is\\nnot the case when more skillful engineering is carried on.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Do you test those by a law of Congress, or\\nby what law\\nA. It is done in conformity with a clause in the contract and\\nspecifications requiring such test to be made in the Mercantile\\nservice it is done by a law of Congress.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think boilers (the Monitor) are safer\\nthan the vertical or Martin boiler\\nA. I do not. I think the Martin boiler as safe as any used\\nin marine vessels, can be made as strong as any other form of\\nboiler, and are equally as reliable. I have made the cruise of\\nnearly three years, having four Martin boilers under my su-\\npervision during that time, and have never had occasion to find\\nfault with them. I have no experience in the working of the\\nMonitor or horizontal boiler.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Were not the boilers you referred to pro-\\nvided with more steam-room than the boilers of the double-\\nenders\\nA. I should judge the ratio of steam-room to a cubical capa-\\ncity of the cylinders to be about the same in both cases.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is the heating surface of these boilers\\nlarger than the boilers you refer to, larger in proportion to the\\nsteam-room\\nw", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "100\\nA. I have never made any comparison or calculation on the\\nsubject, but I should think not.\\nI think the Navy Department furnish the plans and draw-\\nings for the braces.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Are not the different boilers differently\\nbraced\\nA. There are some variations in the different ships, made to\\nsuit the particular notions of the builders tending to furnish\\nthe necessary strength. In regard to boilers generally, I would\\nas soon have charge of a set of Martin boilers as any other\\nkind used in marine steamers. They give as little trouble as\\nany boilers with which. I am acquainted, and I believe I have\\na pretty general knowledge of all kinds of boilers that are\\nused in steam-vessels. The form of a boiler, so long as there is\\nroom to get in plenty of braces, does not necessarily prevent it\\nfrom being a safe and strong boiler, and the type of boilers\\nused in these double-enders is susceptible of being made as\\nstrong and as safe as any boilers now in existence, for if ne-\\ncessary the brace rod could be run through every tube there-\\nfore there is no reason why a boiler should not be strong.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) After a boiler has been tested at sixty\\npounds hydraulic pressure, and found to stand the test, and is\\nexamined after the test, and no imperfections are found by\\nthat test, then run ninety-six hours with steam, at near its\\nmaximum allowance, and standing that steam pressure well, and\\nafter that explodes, at thirty-four and a half pounds steam\\npressure, how do you explain the explosion\\nA. I do not consider the fact of a boiler withstanding suc-\\ncessfully for a moment a hydrostatic pressure of sixty pounds is\\nany evidence of a boiler being perfectly safe with a much less\\nsteam pressure as a working medium, for the following rea-\\nsons in the first place, if all the braces are not equally tight,\\none must take more strain than another, at the same time be\\nsubjected to a greater strain than they were intended to bear;\\nthat is, those that were tighter than others in that case it\\nwould be very evident that more or less damage had been sus-\\ntained by the braces that were too tight, and would be corre\\nspondingly weakened, and would be less able to withstand a\\nless pressure in future, for any great length of time secondly,", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "101\\nwhen subjected to the hydrostatic pressures, all the braces and\\neach one doing its proper proportion of the duty, between the\\ntime that the boiler was so tested, and the time of getting up\\nsteam for her trial, some of the brace-pins may have got out\\nof their places, which is not an uncommon occurrence hence\\nwhen subjected to a pressure again, although to a less degree,\\nrupture may take place, owing to the absence or slackness in\\nsome of the brace-pins, bringing an undue strain upon which?\\nin their proper position and condition beyond which they are\\nable to sustain rupture, would be a very natural consequence\\nunder those circumstances.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Under those circumstances, would not the\\nboiler be more likely to explode at her trial of ninety six\\nhours, when she had forty on, than on her trip down the bay,\\nwith a pressure of thirty-four and a half pounds of steam\\nA. It is possible, during the interim of the ninety -six hours\\ntrial and the trip down the bay, that some changes may have\\ntaken place in the condition of the braces in the boilers. Some\\nof them may have been removed for examination of the boiler,\\nand other causes,, and may not have been properly replaced\\nand adjusted. If the condition of the braces were known to\\nhave been the same during the trip down the bay, the rupture\\nought not to have taken place with a less pressure than that\\nused at the trial of ninety -six hours, which pressure, if used at\\nall, must have been for a very short time, as it was not\\nauthorized by the regulations governing the trial, nor was\\nthere any such pressure on the boilers when I visited her dur-\\ning said trial as General Inspector.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How. long a time were you present during\\nthe ninety -six hours trial\\nA. I think I must have spent about an hour.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Then that forty pounds pressure could\\nhave been on with your knowledge\\nA. Yes, sir it could have been on with my knowledge.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) When braces are removed for any purpose\\nin boilers, is it not the duty of the workmen to replace them\\nto the original point of location\\nA. I would regard it as my duty to see them properly re-\\nplaced, and would do so. I would not even trust my first", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "102\\nassistant to do it. I regard such things of that importance\\nthat I should want to see for myself that the brace was properly\\nreplaced and secured.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Was not Mr. Oahill a careful man in that\\nrespect\\nA. I have no knowledge of Mr. Cahill professionally. He\\nwas First Assistant Engineer in the service consequently could\\nnot have been as experienced as an engineer who had seen\\nmore years and more service. An engineer becomes compe-\\ntent only by experience. A young man can not know as much\\nas one who is many years his senior in age and experience. I\\nspeak in general terms.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Please say how much pressure was carried\\non the Eutaw.\\nA. I can not say for\u00c2\u00bba certainty.\\nGeorge Sewell.\\nSworn to before me this 27th\\nday of April, 1864. j\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nEdward M. DicJcerson, recalled.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Will you give the relative value of two sets\\nof boilers, the one the boiler now in the double-enders, and\\nthe other a set of boilers with vertical water-tubes, which\\nmight occupy the- same place in regard to safety, with cost and\\neconomical effect\\nA. At the request of Mr. Montgomery, I have examined\\nthat question, and find that on the same floor-room, which is\\neighteen feet by thirty-two, occupied by the boilers of the\\ndouble-enders, a set of vertical tubular boilers, properly ar-\\nranged by their inventor, Mr. Montgomery, could be placed,\\nwhich would certainly give twice the steam from the same\\ncombustion which these give, which would be self-sustaining,\\nwhich would be three feet lower than these are in time of ac-\\ntion, which would cost less money to make, and not weigh\\nmore than their weight, and would not work water.\\nEdward N. Dickersok\\nSworn to before me this 29th\\nday of April, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "103\\nJames Montgomery, sworn.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Where do you reside\\nA. Brooklyn at present.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What is your profession\\nA. I am an Engineer.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Have you formed any theory of this ex-\\nplosion?\\nA. I have.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Please state to the jury what that theory is.\\nA. It is a theory based on an intimate knowledge of this pecu-\\nliar water-tube boiler, derived from a knowledge of its elements\\nextending over a period of over twenty-four years. In the\\ncolumns of the American Nautical Magazine for the year of\\n1857 is entered up by me a protest, over the signature of a\\nCorrespondent, against these so-called Martin boilers, as\\narranged by this person, wherein I clearly pointed out the fact\\nthat these boilers were a malformation, both mechanically and\\nchemically that is to say, the steam-boiler is a chemical cru-\\ncible in all its essential particulars, in which many extraordinary\\ncombinations take place, all induced by the thermal effects of\\nheat. In this connection, then, I declared in that journal that\\nthe cutting the furnace from the vertical side of the water-tube\\nboiler, patented to me, its inventor, by the United States, Eng-\\nlish, French, and Belgian Governments, that the transposition\\nfrom the side, as stated, for the purpose of elevating the boiler\\nabout one third higher to make room for the same underneath\\nand below the lowermost ends of the tubes, would be produc-\\ntive of ruinous and dangerous consequences. As a consequence\\nof this arrangement, the steam made on and around the furnace,\\namounting ordinarily to about forty per cent of the mass made\\nin the boiler, must now necessarily, by this mal-arrangement,\\npass upward through the tubes at water ways, found in this\\nclass of boilers, thereby first checking what should be an\\nunobstructed descending current unmixed with other than a\\nvery small per centage of steam whilst at the same time the\\nprincipal volume would pass, as stated, through the tubes,\\nthereby breaking what would otherwise be, under a proper ar-\\nrangement, solid water.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "104:\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What would be the proper way to arrange,\\nand how do you derive your knowledge of this boiler\\nA. As the patentee and inventor of this boiler, I have stud-\\nied the thermal effects of heat on water in evaporating the\\nsame, and the -chemical combinations that result therefrom. In\\naccordance, then, with well-known chemical laws, I arranged\\nand combined the boiler patented to me as stated, and com-\\nmenced its introduction. The laws pertaining to this invention\\nwas found by me by various experimental trials requiring close\\nstudy and observation. I discovered that great difficulty ex-\\nisted in keeping the water in the water-tubes, of which the\\nbody of the boiler is made up. The water-tube boilers of Dr.\\nNott, ISTapen, Dondonald, and several others, were found inop-\\nerative and abandoned by reason of the fact that the water was\\ndriven from the tubes, thereby causing their rapid destruction\\nby burning out the same. A close observation by me enabled\\nme to determine the chemistry of the day to be false, insomuch\\nas that the Florence flask upon which Dr. Nott and others pre-\\ndicated their boilers, was only true under certain circumstances,\\nas the following illustration will prove. The Florence flask\\nis a simple bladder-shaped vessel with a long neck narrowing\\nto a small orifice. This being placed on a metallic stand, and\\na lighted spirit-lamp placed under it for the purpose of evaporat-\\ning its contained water, will exhibit the simple and well-known\\nphenomenon of the vivification of the water, in which the steam\\nand water can be seen rapidly along the sides of the vessel,\\nwhen the flame is hottest, liberating the steam at the surface,\\nthe water in the central part of the flask sinking downward by\\nits gravity, making thereby the supply requisite to keep up the\\ncurrent of vivified matter at the sides. This is the theory upon\\nwhich Dr. Nott predicates his boiler. This chemistry has been\\nindorsed by the books from the earliest dawn of the science,\\nbut is only true, nevertheless, under the circumstances exhib-\\nited in the Florence flask, or some vessel of similar arrange-\\nment. As, for example, when in the case of the water-tube of\\nDr. Kott, a large number of tubes as stood in a vertical posi-\\ntion, the same being from one to two inches in diameter, aver-\\naging about three feet long, with a furnace at their side, the\\ntubes opening into water at the bottom and water at the top", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "105\\nend of the same the flame now being admitted to play around\\nthe tubes through spaces left between the same, acts to convert\\neach particular tube to an evaporative or separate boiler. The\\neffect of which is as follows the steam made on the lower-\\nmost part of these tubes ascending upward, as in the case of\\nthe Florence flask, the currents ascending will cause the\\nsteam to become superheated as the surface over which it passes\\nbecomes hotter the higher the current ascends. This effect wiU\\nbe far greater on the front tubes than those remotest from the\\nfire with a low draft it is possible to realize the effect pro-\\nposed by Dr. Nott in accordance with the flask, namely the\\nwater was supposed by the doctor to pass up the front tubes\\nand down the back ones, as he supposed a sufficient difference\\nof temperature would exist to cause the water to flow up the\\nfront and down the back tubes. Fires low enough to allow of\\nsuch circulation would not be sufficient to make the boiler prac-\\nticable and effective in use, as many experiments have proved\\nwith fires sufficiently strong to generate the steam in sufficient\\nquantities for the engine. The whole mass or cross-section of\\nwater in the tubes at their upper ends was found to be expelled\\nfrom the tubes, back and front alike thus falsifying the the-\\nory of the Florence flask in such a connection. Seeing this,\\nI immediately came to the conclusion that water-ways placed\\nat the sides of the tube-boxes would insure a rapid circulation\\nup the tubes and down the water-ways, whereby the water\\nmight be kept in the tubes, rendering them for the first time\\neffective and economical. I tried the experiment, and suc-\\nceeded in effecting this end. But still the boiler was far from\\nbeing perfect, as I found the circulation still imperfect, though,\\nby comparison, vastly superior to the boiler devoid of water-\\nways. I now added a simple device in the shape of a partition,\\ncalculated to divide the upper half of the tube from the lower.\\nThis I call a diaphragm. By then passing the heat above this\\ndiaphragm to the upper ends of the tubes toward the back of\\nthe boiler, causing it to dive at the extreme back end of the\\ntube-box, and pass underneath and along the lowermost ends\\nof the tube, I was enabled at last to prevent the tubes burning\\nout, and generate the steam with great rapidity and an economy\\nunknown previously to any kind of generator, avoiding by the", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "106\\nthorough circulation obtained by this combination, fully seven-\\nty-five per cent of the causes that produced incrustation from\\nthe salt and other impure water. When steam is superheated\\nto the extent of even one degree above the pressure due to its\\ntemperature, a tendency to repulsion immediately commences.\\nThis it is which produces effervescence, the effect of which is,\\nwhen strong and sudden, as will likely be the case in the im-\\nproperly arranged boiler on board the Chenango, be to cause\\nthe water to fume or rise upward in a solid body or nearly so,\\nand so through the steam-pipes, a large surplus of which will\\npass overboard, thereby draining the boiler of what might be\\nconsidered as its heart s blood, emptying it so rapidly that in one\\ninstance I Jcnew thirty inches of water taken from a boiler of\\nthis Mnd in less than one minute s time so much water was\\nwithdrawn that no alternative was left but to draw the fires to\\nsave the boilers from destruction and those about them. This\\nunfortunate effect was the result of practicing the same quack-\\nery practiced by Mr. Martin in the boilers of the Chenango aad\\nothers of the same class namely, the removal of the lower dia-\\nphragm from interpose between the crown-sheet and the lower\\ntube-sheet, known as the collecting and deflecting diaphragm.\\nThe name is derived from a two-fold purpose which it serves.\\nOn its lower side, as you will observe, it acts to deflect the\\nsteam made on the furnace upward by an independent channel\\nentirely avoiding the tubes. This effectu ally reduces by forty per\\ncent the work required of the tubes in generating the steam, and\\nrestores the principle of the boiler to its purity as patented in\\n1845 at the same time avoiding the danger of scale and sedi-\\nments being thrown down upon the crown of the furnace below,\\nas it acts as a collecting vessel to save the furnace from destruc-\\ntion, leaving the current in the water-ways to pass downward\\nunchecked by the passage of steam upward. With this light\\nthrown upon this subject, together with the testimony already\\nin court, and this piece of iron in my hand, I will now prove\\nthat this boiler exploded from d want of water on the heating\\nsurfaces. As practical engineers, every gentleman among you\\nknows that these bolts could not be cut; in fact, partly sheared\\nas these are, and bent with the quick curves with which they\\nare bent, unless they were first heated to a very high temper-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "107 1\\nature, not less, in fact, than a cherry red. Observe their\\ncurves as well as the cuts. I now take this argument to be\\nself-evident that I have advanced. What then becomes of the\\ntheory advanced by some gentlemen here on the stand, that\\nthe overheating of this boiler, as admitted by themselves, was\\ndue to the fires in the furnace at the time after the explosion f\\nwhen, of course, trie heat acting upon the bolts and plates of\\nwhich the boiler was made up, could exert no pressure in the\\nabsence of steam and water to partly shear and bend these bolts\\nin this extraordinary manner, as in the ordinary or normal con-\\ndition of the boiler a force of seventy-five tons would fail to\\nbend these two five-eighth, bolts in the situation they occu-\\npied at the time of the explosion. This, then, is the theory\\nwhich I have built up to account for this explosion, and after\\nmaking a personal inspection of the boiler.\\nAdjourned to Monday, three o clock p.m.\\nMonday, May 2, 1864.\\nMr. Montgomery continued The pfoof that the boiler was\\nin an overheated condition, even to the extent of over one\\nthousand five hundred degrees Fahrenheit, is shown to have\\nbeen the case by the preceding testimony, in which the stay-\\nbolts holding the lugs to the tube-box were shown not only to\\nbe very much bent, but also partly cut in two, or sheared by\\nthe pressure drawing on them at the time of the explosion\\nfor of course it follows that after the explosion no pressure\\ncould have existed on either the boiler or its stays; as the\\nenormous breach in the shell of the boiler had relieved the\\nboiler of all pressure, except that of the air about it and in it.\\nTherefore, no overheating of the boiler could have caused these\\nbolts to bend upward, much less to be sheared upward in an\\nupper direction, contrary to graving of the materials compos-\\ning the stays, and in the absence of all pressure as named.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Mr. Montgomery, I would ask you, for the\\nbenefit of the jury as well as my own, what opportunities you\\nhave had, if any, in verifying these theories Are they merely\\ntheoretical, or have you verified them practically? The jury,\\nyou must be aware, is made of practical boiler-maker3 and", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "108\\nengineers. State, then, what you know of boilers and explo-\\nsions from your experience in practice and experiments.\\nA. My experience and investigation has extended over a\\nlarge part of the United States, North and South, England,\\nand some little in France, where I resided some time, for the\\npurpose in part of acquiring knowledge from the practical and\\ntheoretical engineers of these countries. My great aim was to\\nacquire the proper knowledge of boilers, more especially with\\na view to their more economical working, and, above all, to\\nrender them entirely safe from explosion. That my labors have\\nnot been altogether lost, I propose to show by documents\\nemanating from eminent men, well known, which I shall ap-\\npend to this testimony. Of my practical experiments I will\\nnow speak. I commenced my operations on the Mississippi\\nRiver, and some of its tributaries. I purchased a portion of a\\nhigh-pressure steamer, and became an oiler and fireman under\\nmy engineer. The information I there acquired enabled me to\\ninvent and perfect, and place on board of the United States\\nsteamer La Grec, the instrument whose entire success is demon-\\nstrated by the annexed document. [Document read, and an-\\nanexed to the testimony, showing that he had devoted him-\\nself to that branch of the science, The Theory of Explosions.\\nThe true theory of the explosion of steam-boilers may be\\nreadily understood by the simple explanation which I now\\nproceed to make. Explosions are divided into two classes the\\nfirst, those that are entirely well-known and understood, which\\nare fully and entirely under the control of proper inspection.\\nThe first is found in improperly formed boilers, such as are\\nfound in flat roofs, or nearly so, over-Sued flues intended to\\nbe circular, but irregular in their formation compound curves,\\nsuch as are found in the abortions now used in the Navy,\\nknown as the Martin boiler. These forms are very hard to\\nstay, and make safe against any other than very low-pressure\\nsteam. Second. The natural detonation by decay of boilers\\nin use, and otherwise. It will readily be seen that these dif-\\nficulties are easily remedied by the inspector, by applying the\\nhydrostatic pump, at proper intervals; these difficulties just\\nnamed, and the manner of curing them, are, of course, univer-\\nsally understood. I have now to answer my theory of explo-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "109\\nsions, which I call the thermal theory, upon which my safety\\napparatus is grounded or based. All causes of explosions\\nafter those before named invariably proceed from an excess of\\ntemperature as, for example, if water becomes deficient in a\\nboiler, from neglect to pump it in as it passes away by evapo-\\nration, the plates constituting the fire-surface become uncov-\\nered of water and exposed. Of course an excess of tempera-\\nture results, as they have been known to be heated even to a\\nwhite heat. Should a vessel with common-roof boilers of any\\nkind be much careened, from any cause, and remain so for a\\nsufficient period, a portion of the flues in the boiler would be-\\ncome uncovered of water the flues would then be liable to\\ncollapse from the same cause over-heating. Third. Should\\nscales, mud, or any foreign substance collect in the boiler, in\\nsufficient quantities to. form an incrustation, the water being\\ncut off from the plate by a good conducting substance of\\nwhich incrustations are made up, this also would cause the\\niron to burn, which would result in breaching the boiler in\\nthose parts where such incrustations had formed. Fourth.\\nBoilers are sometimes improperly constructed with reference to\\nthe application of heat to the heating surface as, for example\\nthe bridge-wall erected at the back ends of .the grates, used on\\nthe Mississippi River, and elsewhere, are carried up very high,\\nquite near the bottom of the boiler at that part. The effect of\\nthis is to choke and throttle the heat up in one spot, and that\\nbetween the fire-brick wall, heated to the highest intensity, and\\nthe bottom of the boiler, as stated, producing thereby a con-\\ncentrated combustion, the effect of which is, to pour a flood\\nof caloric through the iron w T ith such rapidity of conduction\\nas to drive the water immediately over such bridge away from\\nthe plate, a phenomenon well known to boiler-chemists and\\nexperienced Mississippi engineers, and known among men of\\nscience as repulsion, produced, as already shown, from a con-\\ncentration of heat on one spot. Fifth. Steam, as it rises to\\npressure, rises by regular increments of temperature. With\\nsuch exactitude does the temperature increase as the pressure\\nrises, that a common thermometer was taken by me and altered\\nby the addition of what I call a pressure-scale, in which two\\nhundred and twelve degrees showed a pressure of steam of an", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "110\\namount sufficient to balance the pressure of the atmosphere.\\nFrom that it extended to ten atmospheres of steam, or one\\nhundred and fifty pounds. This high pressure was indicated\\nby three hundred and fifty-nine degrees of heat. It is now\\nabout twenty-two years since this instrument was arranged.\\nHere, then, are proofs to show that an instrument properly\\nbased upon this thermal theory, apparent, doubtless, to the\\nminds of the jury, would act, if properly predicated, to control\\neffectually the steam of explosions. On learning these facts, I\\nat once instituted a series of experiments which resulted in the\\nproduction of a simple system of expanding bars of any good\\nconducting metal, not calculated to oxidize or otherwise, for\\nthe galvanic action. This instrument I afterward applied, as\\nthe records show, to the United States steamer Le Ger, under\\nthe patronage of Eobert J. Walker, then Secretary of the\\nTreasury of the United States, with entire success, as the docu-\\nments accompanying this show. A second apparatus was\\nerected in New York City, as the accompanying documents\\nalso prove, highly successful, indorsed by Professor Ken wick,\\nthe author of the work known as Eenwick s Steam Engine.\\nThis, gentlemen, is the theory of explosions, which I have\\nbased upon simple theories with which you are all familiar.\\nMy knowledge of the proper manner of constructing boilers\\nhas been based upon sound and well-approved elements, which\\nan experience of many years has entirely verified, and which\\nthe accompanying documents will indorse.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How does it happen that in view of these\\nextraordinary facts, that you do not place them before the\\nGovernment\\nA. I have done so many times, but owing to the infamous\\nmachinations of corrupt officials, engineers, so called, who hap-\\npen to hold the office of Engineer-in-Chief, and their tools, I\\nhave so far, in spite of the patents that were issued to me as\\nthe original inventor of this boiler, been held by the throat by\\nthe strong arm of power, whilst quacks and other humbugs\\nsuch as the Navy Department has abounded with for many\\nyears past, have wrested from me my property, causing me\\ngreat anxiety, as well as loss, as I well knew from a personal\\nknowledge of the men, their utter incapacity to embody the", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "111\\ninvention in those proportions which true theory is always\\npractical in imperatively demanding. The modus operandi of\\nthese robberies was as follows Patents issued to me for this\\nprinciple of water-tube boilers, having surrounding water-\\nways, with the furnace at the side of the water-tubes, has also\\na division-plate, known as a diaphragm. Two of my claims\\nbeing withheld, they being five in number in all, I was in-\\nformed by the office that if I could establish my right to the\\nremaining two claims, in practice, by the actual success of the\\nboiler, that the office would then, on my surrendering that\\npatent, would re-issue me another with all the claims, five in\\nnumber, called for by the first application. The boiler con-\\nstructed by me in New- York proved an entire success, being\\nused for many years, evaporating fully twelve pounds of water\\nto a pound of coal. Upon this I surrendered my patent. It\\nwas, after a severe contest, re-issued to me, with all the claims,\\ncovering that know as the Martin boiler. In spite, however,\\nof this fact, and the existence of a book of drawings made by\\nme to show a variety of type- of invention, at the instance of\\nMr. Martin and some of the naval engineers, letters were sent\\nto the Commissioner of Patents, Judge Mason informing the\\nCommissioner that this person had made \u00c2\u00bbvaluable improve-\\nments in boilers, which was of the utmost consequence, should\\nbe published to him as their inventor, more especially as he\\nhad promised the Government, in the event of such patents\\nbeing issued, the use of the invention free of all charge, and\\nfiled a letter to this effect, as I am informed by people high in\\npower and believe in short, this patent was merely to be is-\\nsued to him merely to prevent any one else charging a patent\\nfee, therefore including the right of the inventor. Upon this\\nan application was made for a patent, omitting certain portions\\nof the invention essential, and entirely so, to its safety, a por-\\ntion, the omission of which has converted the most safe and\\neconomical boiler, as the record proves, into what can be called\\nan infernal machine. Another patent issued to Mr. Martin,\\nwhich I copied in all its essential particulars, and demanded a\\npatent for, as the original inventor, after a contest of about\\nthree years, involving the expenditure of a very large sum of\\nmoney and the ruin of my business. In the mean time, a pa-", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "112\\ntent issued to me through Judge Holt, then Commissioner of\\nPatents, in which both he and a leading member of the Board\\nof Examiners, who adjudicated this matter, declared the thing\\nto be a great wrong, and regretted the impossibility of annul-\\nling the patent, but stated that the issuing of a patent over\\nthat granted to Martin was a virtual annulment, and that any\\ncourt in the country would give me my rights. Upon this, I\\naddressed a letter to Secretary Welles, asking that he, as a\\nlawyer, would examine the record and ascertain whether these\\nboilers were mine or Mr. Martin s, as also certain prior corre-\\nspondence, in which these boilers were denounced as unfit in\\nthe arrangement made by Mr. Martin asking him also if the\\nproperty was found to belong to me, that he would order the\\nman who had invented and patented the invention to be sus-\\ntained in his constitutional rights in accordance with the laws\\nof patents, and farther, be kind enough to answer the com-\\nmunication sent. He responded by the letter read, stating\\nthat my letter must be addressed to contractors, as they\\nhad the Government fees. [Letter annexed.] Upon this I in-\\nstituted inquiries into the matter, and was astounded by dis-\\ncovering that a printed document circulated among the build-\\ners and others, notified builders that all patent fees must be\\nassumed by them. Further on, however, in the same docu-\\nment, they were substantially ordered to pay Mr. Martin, in\\nutter defiance of my rights, although each individual knew the\\ninvention to be mine. This, however, was necessary to secure\\n-contracts from the Government. The omission by them of\\nthat part of the invention known as the diaphragm, as also a\\nsecond diaphragm known as the collecting and deflecting dia-\\nphragm, has acted to produce this and other like tragedies, and\\nwill continue to do, as long as these boilers may be continued in\\nuse in their present lame and dangerous condition, as will be\\nclearly shown to the minds of all by examining carefully the\\nprinciples fully and properly eliminated in my specifications\\ndescriptive of this patented boiler. All the within papers are\\nsubmitted and annexed, for the purpose of the elucidation of\\nthe same. Of the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. Gideon Welles,\\nI would exonerate, as far as in me lies, from all implication of\\nknowingly furthering this wrong, or abetting it at any time, as", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "113\\nmy previous experience with the Department has taught me\\nfrom information derived directly from various Secretaries of\\nseveral Administrations, the Engineers-in-Chief, to slaughter\\nalike boilers, engines, and machinery of all kinds at their\\nseveral will and pleasure. James Montgomery.\\nSworn to before me this 2d\\nday of May, 1864. J\\nThomas P. Norms,\\nCoroner.\\nW. A. Zighthall, sworn, says I reside near Jamaica. I\\nam an engineer. I have formed no theory of this explosion\\nonly from what I have heard. My theory of explosion and\\nruptures of boilers are divided into three parts Bursting of\\nboilers does not often occur, and very rare. Euptures of\\nboilers are merely the protrusions the boiler will make in blow-\\ning out of a brace, or breaking of the braces. Boilers bursting\\nwith plenty of water in them is of very rare occurrence. I\\nconsider it a very hard matter to burst a boiler, with proper\\ncare. I have tried steam myself on boilers to very great ex-\\ntremes. I have seen the seams, rivets, and sockets sweat at\\nevery pore. But with a safety-valve properly loaded, there is\\nsafety on board a steam-vessel, or there would be no safety go-\\ning on board of them. The explosion of boilers is a different\\nthing entirely, and when a boiler is fitted for an explosion,\\nsafety-valves in numbers would be of no account. My opinion\\nof the explosion is in this, as in all cases, is that men are de-\\nceived in regard to the state of their boilers. I have stood\\nhours and hours at my boiler, not trusting to any other man.\\nI followed the business on the Hudson Biver for twenty-five\\nyears, and never met with an accident and do believe that I\\ndo understand the nature of water in the boiler, and I also be.\\nlieve that all boilers will foam at times. Boilers built with,\\nout proper steam-room are more liable to act in that way. I\\nhave seen a boiler burst from a pressure not exceeding thirty\\npounds, and was on board of the vessel, giving out in the\\nweakest part. I do not believe that any boiler can burst,\\nwith proper care. If it was not so, it would not be safe to\\ntravel on steam-vessels.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "114\\nQ. (by Coroner.) If this boiler stood a test of sixty pounds\\nof cold-water pressure, and was afterward found perfect in all\\nits parts, then run ninety-six hours at the dock as high as\\nforty pounds of steam, and afterward exploded at a pressure of\\nthirty-four and a half pounds, to what would you attribute\\nthe explosion\\nA. I would call that an explosion. My reasons are these\\n1st. That the boiler was tested at a hydrostatic pressure of\\nsixty pounds; it has always been thought that sixty pounds\\ncold-water pressure would hold thirty-five steam pressure, but\\nthe Government test their own boilers. 2d. My view is that\\nwhen water foams so excessively, there is always danger, and\\nit always wants watching. All new boilers will foam more or\\nless. I would think any man should know where the water is\\nunder all circumstances. Whenever I was doubtful of the con-\\ndition of the water, I would shut the throttle and open my fur-\\nnace-doors. I do not think without one of these movements\\nthat a man could tell where the water is in his boilers.\\nQ. (by a Juror.) Don t you think it would be possible, by\\nrunning the water-pipe connected with the water-gauge, down\\nto the bottom of the boiler, as shown in the drawing presented,\\nfor a man to tell where the water in the boiler was, with the\\nsteam-pipe running two feet above the water-line?\\nA I answer, most emphatically, no, sir. The water is solid\\nunder the bottom of the furnaces where the fire does not come\\nin contact. The pipe, as shown in the drawing, at the bottom\\nis correct, but I do not think the pipe high enough to indicate\\nsolid water, from the drawing shown, whilst in a state of foam-\\ning. In all hollers where the steam-room is contracted, they\\nare more apt to throw off the water from the holler. I have\\nseen several of the double-enders. I don t see why they should\\nnot be as safe as other ships, with their boilers properly braced.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Will any amount of bracing prevent an ex-\\nplosion, where the conditions of an explosion exist\\nA. Bracing will not prevent the explosion, If the condi-\\ntions exist In the holler the more strongly they are hraced,\\nthe greater will he the damage. In my opinion, the Che-\\nnango holler exploded from the want of water, and a sudden\\nIrritation of the ivater. I have known a boiler to explode by", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "115\\nmerely moving a cock to displace the steam. I have known\\ntwo boilers on the Hudson River to explode for the want of\\nwater, and I do not believe that many accidents happen, except\\nthrough that cause. No safey-valve is a guard against an explo-\\nsion. There is superheated steam in all our boilers. When\\nyou have plenty of water in the boiler, superheated steam is\\nharmless, but when at low water it is very dangerous. Low\\nWater is the cause of all the explosions in the country. I account\\nfor this explosion by superheated steam in the boiler and heated\\nsurfaces of the boiler. I never examined the boiler of the Che-\\nnango know nothing about them in any particular. If the\\npressure on the safety-valve was greater than the boiler could\\nstand, it would of course explode.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is not the glass gauge outside the boiler,\\nand the water in that gauge, not subject to be disturbed in a\\ngreat degree by foaming?\\nA. Water in all glass gauges is more or less disturbed, but\\nmuch more when they have not very high steam-chimneys.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Would not the foaming affect the glass\\ngauge in a boiler with a high steam-chimney, as much.as it\\nwould in a low one?\\nA. No, sir.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is the steam entrance to the glass gauge\\nattached to the chimney, or the side of the boiler\\nA. They are attached to the side of the boiler, and run up\\nto the top of the steam- chimney.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Is the giving way of the boiler by over-\\nloading a safety-valve an explosion, or does it operate like an\\nexplosion\\nA. They are as much unlike as possible; when a bursting\\nof a boiler takes place, and finds an exit in the weakest point,\\nbut when an explosion takes place, it has no reference to any\\nparticular parts; all goes alike; safety-valves are of no ac-\\ncount.\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you not think there are many circum-\\nstances, such as imperfectly staying, etc., that would cause a\\nboiler to burst under a less pressure than it was tested at\\nA. My judgment is, that no boiler can burst under a much\\nless pressure than its test if so, there is no use in going to the\\ntrouble of testing boilers.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "116\\nQ. (by Juror.) Do you think the accident on board of the\\nChenango would have been likely to happen, if proper care\\nhad been taken on the part of the engineer who bad charge\\nA. I do not think that such an accident could happen to\\nany one who would take the proper care of a set of boilers, no\\nmatter how bad they were. It is the duty of the engineer to\\ntake care of his boilers his engines will take care of them-\\nselves.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Supposing the glass gauge on the boiler\\nindicated two and a half cocks of water, and she had a pressure\\nof thirty-four and a half pounds of steam, as shown by the in-\\ndicator diagram, what means had the engineer of knowing that\\nhe was in danger\\nA. To open the fire-doors first, then shut the engines close,\\nand if not quite satisfied, to stop them, and if he found the\\nwater low, to raise the safety-valve, to cause the same flow of\\nsteam from the boiler, until it all blew off. The water in the\\nwater-gauge is not an infallible test when the boiler is foam-\\ning. It takes a good head and ear to tell when the boiler is\\nin a s^ite of foaming.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Is not the resort to opening the furnace-\\ndoors, stopping the engine, cooling the fires, one that an ordi-\\nnary engineer would hesitate about before doing it\\nA. No, sir, not if the man attends to his business. He will\\nnever hesitate; he will slow his engine, or do something to\\nshow where the water is in the boiler. I would account for\\nthe burnt appearance of the felt and melted lead shown, by\\nsaying, that lead never melts except at about six hundred degrees\\nof heat. Felting never burns without excessive heat. Super-\\nheated steam will burn the jackets off steam-chimneys every\\nyear, while the jacket on the boiler will last until it wears out.\\nI think the piece shown was melted by superheated steam. I\\nhave seen it done; have done it myself but pure ordinary steam\\ngenerated from water will never harm any lead-joints, or burn\\nany felting. I have never known it in my experience.\\nWm. A. Lighthall.\\nSworn to before me this 2d\\nday of May, 1864.\\nThomas P. JSTokkis,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "117\\nDaniel B. Martin recalled.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) In the course of Mr. Dickerson s testimony\\nhe alluded to testimony given by you in the case of an explo-\\nsion in Bridgeport will you explain the matter\\nA. This case is entirely dissimilar, that being what is called\\nan upright boiler of some forty odd inches diameter, with one\\ncross flue, and two or three upright connections from the fur-\\nnace to this cross flue. This boiler was attended by a boy with\\nbut a few months experience, who left the boiler at about ten\\nminutes past twelve, and went to his dinner on his return, a\\nfew minutes before one o clock, the boiler exploded. After\\nstanding some thirty or forty minutes, the supposition then\\nwas, that this lad had been deceived in the height of the water\\nin the boiler, and leaving the boiler with a large fire in, that\\nthe steam during this length of time became heavily sur-\\ncharged, lifted the safety-valve, and by that means caused the\\nexplosion. The dissimilarity in the two cases was, that one\\nstood a long time with water quiescent, giving the steam a\\nfair opportunity, whilst in the other the engine kept constantly\\ngoing, taking its supply of steam from the boiler. The steam\\nconsequently had not the time to become surcharged, in case\\nthe water had been low.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Did not one of these double-ender boilers,\\njust like that of the Chenango, recently explode when being\\ntried at Newburgb, killing several persons?\\nA. Yes, sir. I have the report of that case. They com-\\nmenced to fire up on the boiler, to test it with steam, very\\nearly in the morning. About ten o clock they commenced to\\nmake steam, feeding with wood about eleven a.m. They had\\nsteam to fifty-four pounds, by the pressure-gauge, and a full\\nfire in. An order was then given to the two men who were\\nfiring on the boiler to draw the fires by the master boiler-\\nmaker. The master boiler-maker then returned to the shop.\\nThe men, instead of hauling the fires as they were told, w r ent\\nup in the yard and returned in twenty minutes, and com-\\nmenced to haul the fires, when this explosion took place.\\nThere was no safety-valve on the boiler, nor any means of letting\\noff the steam or admitting water, except by a cock on the top", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "118\\nof the boiler, that had been used for filling and testing it. The\\npressure that it gave way at was unknown to every body, ex-\\ncept those that were killed.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Was it possible that the engineers on\\nboard of the Chenango could be deceived as to the exact con-\\ndition of the water, as indicated by the water-gauge\\nA. I think not, sir. This gauge I consider the most perfect\\ntest of any thing that has ever been gotten up, for the reason,\\nas has been testified by Mr. Dickerson here on the stand, that\\nthis engine took its steam eighteen inches above the water-line,\\nwhich would be twenty-four inches above the tube-sheet, and\\nthe steam connection of this gauge was three feet nine inches\\nabove that point consequently there was nothing to draw the\\nfoaming water up to that point. In case the water did reach\\nthat point, the steam or dry-pipe would be submerged in nearly\\nsolid water. In that case the cylinders would be filled with\\nwater to the point of cutting off. This gauge has another\\nsafety-guard against the indications of water foaming over, by\\nthe glass gauge being connected to a chamber on one side of\\nthe main channel of water. This gauge stands in plain sight\\nof a man in the engine-room taking diagrams.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How do you explain the fact of the mer-\\ncury being blown out of the gauge\\nA. I am under the impression that the mercury-gauge was\\nnot blown out.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) What gives you that impression\\nA. Practical experience shows that from two to three inches\\nof the mercury should be worked out by mechanical means.\\nThe means used generally is to blow it out by putting the\\nmouth to the gauge. The reason of this is, that the sudden\\nopening of the lower cock of the gauge, relieving the mercury\\nof its steam pressure, allows the mercury to come back with\\nsuch a momentum, that a portion of it will pass out of the\\nshort lug and become wasted. In regard to the water found in\\nthe long lug of the gauge, I have found gauges in that way in\\nmy experience, and that I have no recollection of ever taking\\ndown a gauge that is placed below the decks of a vessel, that I\\ndid not find water, or evidences of its having been there,", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "119\\nwhich evidence would be in finding the oxide of iron on the\\ntop of the mercury. I never could account for how this\\nmoisture got there, unless it was by what we term the sweating\\nof the metal, or what is more properly called the condensing\\nof the atmosphere in the gauge as it is a very ordinary thing\\nto see the water, in damp weather, running off the metallic\\nparts of the machinery below decks. This gauge of the Che-\\nnango sets under the hatch, where the storms might beat into\\nthe top of it, and water get in in that way. It also is under\\nthe crank-pin, in one position of the engine, where, if water\\nhad been used on the crank-pin, it would be likely to get into it.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) It has been testified here, by the engineer\\nwho ran the engine on her trial, as well as others who ran the\\nPawtuxet and Metacomet, that this boiler worked water badly.\\nHow do you account for that\\nA. I believe it has been testified here that the water worked\\nthrough from the boiler to the engine, through the cylinder,\\nfrom the cylinder to the condenser, so through that to the fire-\\npump the residue that the pump could not take, worked over-\\nboard. I wish to say that such a thing can not be, for these\\nreasons In case the water comes through, as represented, it\\nmust come through before the exhaust-valve is closed and\\nthen, as this valve closes four inches from the end of the slope,\\nwhich closes that communication from that to the end of the\\nslope, the water must be forced through the steam-valves, or\\nthrough the relief- valves, or the head of the cylinder must\\nburst, or the piston breaks; and as no evidence has been given\\nhere, that I have heard, of the steam-valves lifting, for the\\nwater to return back to the steam-pipe, or that the relief- valves\\nwould open themselves, is proof that no water returned back\\nthrough the exhaust, except what went in the form of steam.\\nAs some witness has testified that one thousand six hundred\\nand thirty-nine pounds of water passed through the cylinder\\nat each revolution, I hereby hand in the paper marked 249,\\nshowing a contradiction of that statement, and this will show\\nthat the whole amount of water would have been emptied out\\nof the boiler into the engine-room in two and a half minutes", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "120\\nWater in Boilers of IT. S. Steamer Otsego.\\nIn one boiler. In two boilers.\\nWater to tops of furnaces, 184.64 cub. ft.=ll,447 lbs.X2 22,894 lbs.\\nlower tube-sheet, 308.68 =19,138 X2 38,276\\nupper tube-sheet, 456.75 =28,318 X2 56,636\\nsix inches above tube-sheet, 548.47 =33,005 X2 66,010\\nNumber of revolutions of Engine required to empty the Boilers\\nat the rate of one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine\\npounds of water per stroke.\\nFrom six inches above tube-sheet down to upper tube-sheet, 7 revolutions.\\nupper tube-sheet down to lower tube-sheet, 11 18\\nlower tube-sheet to top of furnaces, 9 27\\ntop of furnaces to bottom of boilers, 14 41\\nNumber of revolutions required to empty boilers completely, 41\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How can you account for the boiler ex-\\nploding at a less pressure than that tested at with cold water\\nCan you give any other reason than you have already given\\nA. I can. It has been testified to here, that the boiler had\\nbeen examined after the test. This examination could not be\\nproperly made without the removal of some of the stays.\\nThese stays having been originally fitted each one to its place,\\nto take its proper strain, and as there may be inequality in the\\nlength of the braces, these braces, in putting them back, may\\nhave become changed. As the pins are the last things put in;\\nthe person putting them in, finding them loose, may drive\\nthem home, thereby springing down the crown, so much so as\\nto start the adjoining braces, and probably bring the strain\\nfrom two to three to one brace.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Suppose, then, that the braces had been re-\\nmoved and readjusted and then the boiler stood a pressure of\\nforty pounds of steam for ninety-six hours how do you ac-\\ncount for the explosion at thirty-four and a half?\\nA. It is possible that the indicator-card might have been taken\\nsome minutes before the explosion, and perhaps some of the\\nbraces might have been changed while the boat was at the\\nNavy Yard.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) Mr. Mason swore that the self-acting relief-\\nvalve, from the fresh- water end of the air-pump, at times de-\\nlivered a solid column of water overboard, while at times an", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "121\\nhour would elapse without any water going over. Where did\\nthe water come from, except from the boiler\\nA. If the check-valves on the boilers were screwed down, it\\nwould have to take that course there was no other way for it\\nto go.\\nQ. (by Juror.) The boilers having been made with thirty\\ntwo stays, would it not have imparted double the strength as\\nto its tension, and doubled the chances against the damage of\\nbursting, if there had been, as in the drawing, sixty -four stays,\\nand which the inspector testified there should have been\\nA. It would have been double, minus the strength of the\\ncrown with its T iron braces.\\nQ. Does the duty of the inspector merely extend to a proof-\\ntest of the boiler, or was it not his duty to report to his su-\\nperiors such a very serious change in their construction, as re-\\nducing the stays (if they were reduced, to half the number\\nA. It was the duty of the inspecting engineer to notify the\\ncontractor, if the contractor still persisted, and then to notify\\nthe Department.\\nQ. (by Juror.) At the Morgan Iron Works the piston was\\ndriven on the rod. How could this be, when the drawing\\nshows a collar on the rod\\nA. If the rod was fitted properly it could not be done with-\\nout crushing the metal.\\nQ. (by Coroner.) How do you account for the melted lead\\nA. I can not account for the melted lead.\\nDaniel B. Martin.\\nSworn to before me this\\n2d day of May, 1864, J\\nThomas P. Norris,\\nCoroner.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "122\\nCHARGE BY CORONER KORBIS TO THE JURY.\\nGentlemen of the Jury The law has imposed upon us\\nthe duty of investigating the causes which produced the death of\\ntwenty-eight of our fellow-citizens, who were hurried into\\neternity without warning, and suffering from tortures which\\nappalled us all, whose painful duty it was to witness them.\\nIn the enjoyment of health, elated with the prospect of an\\nhonorable service in the cause of their country, these unfortu-\\nnate victims of some most shameful incapacity were suddenly\\ndestroyed not by the hand of the enemy, but by causes which\\nthey had a right to expect could not occur on a man-of-war,\\nbuilt by the Government without limitation of expense, and\\nmanaged by a large number of persons, whose sole duty it\\nwas to guard against any accident which human skill could\\navert. As the cause of this terrible calamity might, upon one\\nview of the case, be inherent in the organization of the ma-\\nchinery itself, and therefore would exist in a great number of\\nother vessels belonging to the United States just like the Che-\\nnango and as an investigation into that cause must of neces-\\nsity require the knowledge of scientific men, I thought it my\\nduty to ask the aid of engineers of well-known ability to ex-\\namine the boiler, and to give us the benefit of their knowledge\\nandopinion; and you have heard the testimony of some of\\nthem. The facts which have been proved before us, without\\ndispute or contradiction, are as follows The Navy Department\\nof the United States, requiring some thirty side-wheel light\\ndraft gunboats, prepared the plans for the engines and boilers\\nof these vessels, and called upon contractors to build their ma-\\nchinery according to those plans, under the superintendence\\nof the United States engineers. Among others, Mr. Quintard\\nundertook to build two sets of these engines and boilers, of\\nwhich the machinery of the Chenango was one. The material\\nout of which these boilers were made was ordered according\\nto specification and the evidence of the gentlemen who fur-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "123\\nnished the iron, as well as of those who have tested samples\\nof it since the explosion of it, shows, without contradiction,\\nthat it was of the best quality. The boilers were tested, ac-\\ncording to contract, v/ith a cold-water pressure, and endured\\nsixty to sixty-five pounds to the square inch without yielding.\\nThe braces were then examined, and found to be perfect and\\nthe boilers were accepted by the United States Inspector as\\nsatisfactory and according to contract. The engine was then\\nrun for ninety -six^hours at the dock, in order to comply with\\nthe contract, and the whole machine was accepted by the Gov-\\nernment and delivered out of the hands of the contractor.\\nThe ship then went into commission, and was proceeding to\\nsea on her first voyage, in the charge of a young man by the\\nname of Cahill, a Second Assistant Engineer in the United\\nStates Navy, acting as Chief Engineer on this occasion. The\\nvessel proceeded down the bay, and when below Governor s\\nIsland, Captain Fillebrown visited the engine-room, and found\\ntwenty-six and a half pounds pressure of steam on the boilers\\nas indicated on the gauge. Mr. Cahill then told the Captain\\nthat the fires were burning well and that there was no need to\\nuse the blowers. The Captain went on deck and did not re-\\nturn to the engine-room until the vessel was in the Narrows,\\nwhen he again went below. Up to this time the speed of the\\nvessel was between eight and nine knots an hour. The Cap-\\ntain had a conversation with Mr. Cahill at the end of the cyl-\\ninder a long distance from the boilers and Mr. Cahill told\\nhim that the engine was running well. The Captain then said\\nthat the vessel had about eleven miles more to go, and he\\nwent on deck, leaving Mr. Cahill by his desk at the cylinder\\nend of the engine; and as he stepped on deck the boiler ex-\\nploded, scalding thirty-two men, of whom twenty-eight have\\nsince died from the effects of the injuries then received. The\\nquestion now before us is, what was the cause of the rupture?\\nIt appears that boilers are ruptured from two causes one of\\nwhich is the gradual accumulation of pressure, until the resist-\\ning power of the boiler is overcome in its weakest part and\\ngives way, which is called a burst or bursting and the\\nother is the instantaneous generation of an enormous pressure\\non the boiler, from causes which attend low water, and which", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "124\\nis called an explosion. The first branch of the inquiry is,\\nwhether the boiler burst from weakness of material, or a de-\\nfect in its construction, when canning the pressure of steam\\nwhich it was intended to bear. We have the means of know-\\ning exactly how much pressure was on the boilers immediate-\\nly before the explosion. The pressure was thirty -four and a\\nhalf pounds to the inch, as shown by the indicator-card in-\\ndorsed by Mr. Cahill himself; so that it is made certain that if\\nthe boiler did burst from weakness, it yielded to a pressure a\\nlittle more than one half it had endured from the hydraulic\\npress, and five pounds less than it had borne from steam when\\nrunning at the dock for ninety-six hours, and when forty\\npounds to the inch had been carried. It is also proved\\nby Mr. De Luce, the Chief Engineer of the Navy Yard, that\\nlie measured the safety-valve immediately after the accident,\\nand found that it would blow off steam at thirty-nine and a\\nhalf pounds so that the boiler was protected by that means\\nagainst the possibility of a steam pressure equal to that\\nwhich already had been used with safety. The question is,\\nthen, whether it is possible for a boiler to burst under a pres-\\nsure of steam to-day, five pounds less than it endured under\\nsteam yesterday, and twenty -five pounds less than it endured\\nfrom cold water last week? On this subject we have the\\nopinion of Mr. Maxon, the United States boiler-maker, who\\nswore that he would consider the boiler perfectly safe to carry\\nforty pounds after it had been tested at sixty pounds of cold\\nwater and it appears that the statute law, under which all\\npassenger-steamers are run, permits the boiler to carry forty-\\nfive pounds to the inch after a cold-water pressure of sixty\\nand that the experience of many years has shown it to be per-\\nfectly safe. On the contrary, Mr. De Luce and Mr. Sewell,\\nUnited States Engineers, and Mr. Eowland, express the\\nopinion that a boiler is quite likely to burst under a much less\\npressure than it had been tested with cold water and Mr.\\nEowland fixed the amount as low as fifteen pounds to the inch,\\nin this case and these witnesses are of opinion that this cold-\\nwater test is of no practical value. It is not suggested that\\nthere is any other means known of insuring the safety of the\\nboiler except this cold-water test, and if these isolated opin-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "125\\nions, unsupported by any instance of the kind, are well found-\\ned, it is obvious that no one can be properly charged with the\\nconsequences of an explosion, since no human skill can make\\nsure in advance that the required strength existed and it is\\nequally obvious that all the thousands of boilers now running,\\nand relying upon the safety of this test, are instruments of de-\\nstruction, acting upon some capricious impulse impossible to\\nbe foreseen, and likely to scatter death around them at any\\nmoment. Fortunately, however, experience proves that boil-\\ners so tested are safe against any less pressure. ~No witness has\\ndenied that this boiler was tested to sixty pounds no\\nwitness has said that it was not strong enough to bear sixty\\npounds when built and delivered and the only suggestion\\nwhich has been made (and this is m ely a suggestion) is, either\\nthat some of the braces had been removed by the engineers\\nand not replaced, whereby the strength was diminished, or that\\nin testing, the braces might have been reduced in strength, so\\nas to burst at thirty-five or forty-five pounds to the inch. The\\nfirst suggestion is met by the proof that all the braces were in\\nplace, and are actually carried away by the explosion, and the\\nsecond one by the proof that after the test the braces were ex-\\namined and found all right, and conclusively by the proof that\\nforty pounds of steam was carried on the boiler after this test,\\nwhich was much more than the pressure immediately before\\nthe explosion. You are therefore left without any proof,\\neither deduced from the well-known calculations based on the\\nascertained strength of iron or from any experience in regard\\nto the testing of boilers, from which to infer that the boiler did\\nburst at the low pressure of steam which was being carried.\\nYou will then consider whether the boiler was burst by gradu-\\nally accumulating upon it a pressure greater than it had shown\\nitself capable of bearing or whether it was exploded by those\\ncauses which do constantly produce explosions in boilers, and\\nwhich, when they are called into action, overcome all resist-\\nance and devastate in proportion to the strength of the boiler,\\nwhich has in vain struggled to restrain their destructive force.\\nIt is not a part of our duty to speculate upon the best way of\\nbracing or securing boilers, if we find no proof that the brac-\\ning in this particular case was too weak to endure the load it", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "126\\nwas designed to bear. The evidence shows that a great variety\\nof opinions upon the best methods of bracing exist among men\\nequally experienced in the business and, as there is no standard\\nfixed by law or universal custom, it must at last come back to\\nthe simple question in each case, whether the method of bracing\\nused in that case was sufficient for the purpose intended and\\nif it be sufficient, it is of no consequence that some other con-\\nstructor would have used some other method. No boiler\\nwould probably ever be built if the different views of all men\\nabout the best way of constructing it had first to be reconciled.\\nThe specifications under which these boilers were built partic-\\nularly provide for the manner in which their braces shall be\\nsecured to the roof of the boilers, but it leaves to the superin-\\ntendence and control of th# United States engineer in charge\\nand the discretion of the boiler-maker how they shall be\\nsecured at their lower ends subject, however, to the condition\\nthat they shall be able to stand a water-pressure of sixty pounds.\\nIn this case it appears that the specification is complied with\\nso far as it prescribes the exact number of points of support\\noverhead, and that the manner of securing the lower ends of the\\nbraces was the same as had been used on about eighteen others\\nof these boilers with entire success, and such as was approved by\\nthe United States Inspector and accepted by the department,\\nand that it was sufficient to endure the test required by the\\ncontract. It is proved that more braces could have been put\\nin, and that the boiler could have been made to endure two or\\nthree hundred pounds to the inch, if such had been the requisi-\\ntion of the specification but if it had been the calamity now\\nso dreadful would have been intensified in horror, and we\\nshould probably have bad no one living to tell the tale for\\nwhen explosions do occur their destructive force is in propor-\\ntion to the strength of the boiler, which restrained the pressure\\nuntil it accumulated to the bursting point. In the absence,\\nthen, of any evidence that the boiler was too weak to bear the\\npressure it was designed to carry, you will next inquire whether\\nthe pressure was gradually accumulated upon it above what it\\nwas able to endure. The testimony is conclusive on this point.\\nThere certainly was not more than thirty-five pounds of pres-\\nsure immediately before the explosion, as proved by the indi-", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "127\\ncation diagram and if there had been thirty-nine and a half\\nthe safety-valve would have blown off the steam. Pressure\\nrises very slowly when an engine is running, and in the short\\ntime between Governor s Island and the Narrows, with the en-\\ngine working, it woulcl seem impossible that a bursting pres-\\nsure could have been raised from twenty-six and a half pounds\\nof steam and if it were possible it would warn every one, first\\nby the gauge; secondly, by blowing off at the safety-valve below\\nforty pounds and thirdly, by blowing out the mercury-gauge\\nat about fifty pounds, none of which events occurred. You are\\nthen brought to the only other explanation, and that is, that the\\nboiler exploded in the usual way in which such accidents do\\noccur, and in consequence of low water. I don t propose to\\nrecapitulate the scientific testimony which you have heard in\\nregard to the precise manner in which low water does lead to\\nan explosion. It is conceded by all that when the water is\\nlow in a boiler a great intensity of heat is accumulated in the\\nsteam which has been brought in contact with metallic surfaces\\nhighly heated, and that in that state it is called superheated\\nsteam, and is extremely dangerous, and that such a condition\\nof the water and steam is always found to accompany an ex-\\nplosion. It is enough for us to know that low water will pro-\\nduce an explosion, even though science may not be able to\\ntrace with entire certainty every step of the process by which\\nthe result is produced. The circumstances which attend an ex-\\nplosion are an instantaneous and irresistible development of\\nsteam, which produces its effects as if by the explosion of\\ngunpowder, to use the language of the distinguished Tyndail,\\nand does its work of destruction before its victims have time to\\nescape, leaving its traces in the terrific energy with which it\\nhas torn apart the ties of iron which, upon all known calcula-\\ntion, were capable of bearing many times the strain that ordi-\\nnary quantities of steam could impose upon them. Do we find\\nthese circumstances here The boiler exploded within ten\\nseconds after Captain Fillebrown and the Chief Engineer stood\\nby the gauge at the end of the cylinder, not noticing any un-\\nusual pressure, and when the very moderate speed of the vessel\\n(between eight and nine knots an hour) gave evidence of a very\\nsmall amount of power in action upon the engine itself. The", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "128\\nblowers were not running on the fires, and the Chief Engineer,\\nwho was in a position where he could not observe the indica-\\ntions of the water-gauge on the boilers, said that the engine was\\nworking very well. Up to this time the engine had been run\\npartly throttled off, and the steam, which was at twenty-six and\\na half pounds pressure at Governor s Island, had run up to thir-\\nty-four and a half at the Narrows. Under these circumstances,\\nit is admitted by Mr. Sewell, the United States Engineer, and\\notherwise proved, that the engineer must have done one of\\nthree things either allowed the pressure to exceed the limit\\nallowed, or opened the furnace-doors, or opened the throttle-\\nvalve so as to still further increase speed, and that he did would\\nseem to be free from doubt in the nature of things. The evi-\\ndence is, and it seems to be a matter of common knowledge,\\nthat explosions from low water occur when the throttle-valve is\\nopened, so as to increase the demand for steam upon the boiler,\\nand so far at least to diminish the pressure, and, apparently,\\nthe chances of an explosion and all agree that under these\\ncircumstances the water which yet remains in the boilers rises\\ninto the superheated atmosphere above it, and is thrown upon\\nthe heated plates, which either by the direct action of the fire,\\nor by deriving their heat from the superheated steam itself,\\nhave acquired an excess of temperature above that which satu-\\nrated steam itself possesses, and which are therefore able to\\nyield some of their surplus heat to the finely divided water\\nwhich rises in the shape of foam. As is usual in the case of\\nexplosions, the men who either innocently or carelessly pro-\\nduce them no longer bear witness on earth, and we must infer\\ntheir probable conduct from the circumstances in which they\\nwere known to be placed, and the inducements which operated\\nupon them. In this case the engine had been shut off to a cer-\\ntain extent in order to gain steam, and of course Mr. Cahill\\ncould have had no other object in accumulating pressure, ex-\\ncept to use it when accumulated, and so to find out the capa-\\ncity of his engine when its powers were to be tested for the\\nfirst time. In opening the valve, if he did it, Mr. Cahill would\\nhave been diminishing the pressure on his boilers, and if the\\nwater had been at its proper height the operation would have\\nbeen entirely safe. He himself did not know where the water", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "129\\nwas in the boilers, as he had been conversing with the captain\\nfor some time, and as it appears, taking indicator-cards from\\nthe engine at a place where he could not possibly have known\\nthe condition of the water in the boilers, as Mr. Lawton has\\ntold us and he had a right, perhaps, to infer that the boilers\\nwere as they should be, and more particularly so, as it seems\\nthat he had not seen them operate on the trial at the dock, and\\nmight not have known their tendency to throw out their water\\nwith great rapidity. This brings us to the consideration of the\\nprobability that the water was low in the boilers. There has\\nbeen no witness before us qualified, from his own knowledge,\\nto give any testimony as to the exact condition of the water-\\ngauges at the time of the accident, and we must look to circum-\\nstantial evidence in this regard also. Of that we are furnished\\nwith a great abundance and of a most conclusive character.\\nThis boiler and engine were used at the dock for ninety-six\\nhours, during which time the most extraordinary results were\\nexhibited. The water worked out of the boilers into the en-\\ngine, and so overboard, so freely that sometimes over a third\\nof the cylinder would be filled with water, and the momentum\\nof the machine would be suddenly arrested, as is proved by\\nMr. Mason, who had charge of the trial. On one occasion the\\nquantity which suddenly came over from the boiler to the\\ncylinder was so great that the piston was driven up the piston-\\nrod about the sixteenth of an inch by compressing the water\\nbetween the cylinder-head and the piston, as proved by Mr.\\nKiggin, who assisted on the trial. The danger of an explosion\\nfrom low water at the dock was so great that the last witness\\nrefused to open the throttle- valve, when requested to do so by\\nthe United States Engineers on board, who represented that\\nthe contract required the engine to be run wide open. The\\nwitness said that he considered his own safety endangered, and\\nshould act on his own judgment. Mr. Bell, who took indicator\\ndiagrams at times during the trial, from the engine, says that\\nthe water worked out of the boilers so as to be heard striking\\nin the cylinder frequently, when he was on board. Although\\nthe engines are arranged with a fresh water or surface con-\\ndenser, whose office it is to keep the boilers supplied with\\nfresh water, the water became salt very soon, and had to be\\n9", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "130\\nblown out, as if the engine had no surface condenser. This\\nwas the condition of the Chenango when she was delivered into\\nthe charge of a second assistant engineer, with assistants, who,\\nit appears, had not witnessed these operations in order to go to\\nsea on duty. There is no difference of opinion among the en-\\ngineers who have been examined on the subject, that a boiler\\nin that condition was unsafe, and required extraordinary skill\\nto avert an accident and the question is whether that extra-\\nordinary skill was employed upon them. The young men in\\ncharge are not pretended to have possessed any thing more\\nthan ordinary skill in their business, as their rank shows. In\\naddition to these probabilities thus established, there are other\\nfacts which can not be denied or deceive others in regard to\\nthis matter. The mercury -gauge which was fitted and adjusted\\nwith the tell-tale set at zero, and from which no mercury could\\nbe expelled until the pressure exceeded forty-eight pounds to\\nthe square inch, was found by Mr. Powers, the boiler inspector\\nof the City of Brooklyn, and by Mr. Dickerson, the witnesses\\nwho examined it in the presence of the jury, to have lost about\\nfive inches of mercury, so that the tell-tale stood about two and\\na half inches above the zero on the scale while at the same\\ntime the water which is generally in the small pipe connecting\\nthe gauge with the boiler, had been all blown out, and was\\nfound at the atmospheric end of the mercury and in the tube\\nabove it. There is no way in which this mercury could have\\nbeen expelled from this tube unless by a pressure of steam\\nmore than forty-eight pounds high unless between the time\\nof the explosion and the time of the examination in our pres-\\nence this gauge had been taken down, some of the mercury\\npoured out, and some dirty water poured into it which possi-\\nbility is negatived by the testimony of Mr. Sullivan, who swore\\nthat nothing had been touched until it was examined in our\\npresence. The hair felt which covered the top of the boiler\\nwhere it was ruptured was found burnt black and shriveled\\nby excessive heat, a sample of which is produced before us,\\nwhile the wood in immediate contact with it shows no scorch-\\ning, and the witness told us that steam which is superheated\\nby contact with hot iron will shrivel up animal fibers, like hair\\nor leather, while it would not yet be hot enough to set fire to", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "131\\nwood but that saturated steam, or steam no hotter than water\\nout of which it is made, would only be two hundred and eighty-\\nnine degrees Fahrenheit hot at the pressure of forty pounds,\\nand therefore not hot enough to burn hair. This is said to\\nprove to a demonstration that the steam must have been super-\\nheated to a high degree and it is admitted that unless the\\nwater was low no such effect could have been produced. It is\\nalso in evidence before you that the lead covering which was\\nlaid upon the outside of the boiler and outside of the felt was\\nmelted by the heat of the steam, and specimens have been\\nshown you which were taken from the sheet lead immediately\\nat the edge of the rupture, and which bear evidence of hav-\\ning been subjected to a melting heat. Steam at six hundred\\nFahrenheit will melt lead, and it is said by witnesses that it is\\ncommon in cases of explosions, and in cases where low water\\nhas not been followed by explosion, to find lead and solder\\nmelted by the hot steam. It is to be remarked that this boiler\\nhad been the subject of an official examination and report by\\nengineers of the United States Navy, and had been inspected\\nby great numbers of persons, including Mr. Martin, (whose ar-\\nrangement of it is charged as the cause of the explosion,) yet\\nno witness has attempted to explain how the lead could have\\nmelted (unless indeed the suggestion of Chief-Engineer Sewell,\\nthat the tearing of the sheet created friction enough to melt it-\\nself, may be considered an explanation) or the felt charred,\\nunless by superheated steam and Mr. Martin himself remark-\\ned that the only evidence of low water which he had seen was\\nin the fact of burnt felt, of which he had picked up a sample\\nand then had it in his pocket. It is apparent that the engineer\\ncorps of the Navy, as well as the persons whose plans are in-\\nvolved, have a deep interest in assigning some other cause\\nthan low water, since if it were low, it must have been so\\neither from carelessness of engineers, or from inherent defects in\\nthe organization which baffled the ordinary skill of such per.\\nsons as had the machine in charge yet no attempt has been\\nmade to explain away the melted lead or to reconcile its pres-\\nence with the fact that there was enough water in the boiler.\\nAnd as this is the ordinary cause of explosion, it would seem\\nconsequently the true one here, particularly since no evidence", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "132\\nof any sort has been produced to substitute any other cause,\\nand we are left to the mere suggestion, without proof, that pos-\\nsibly the braces might have been taken out by Mr. Cahill and\\nnot replaced, or possibly the cold-water test, which experience\\nhas shown to be infallible, has in this case proved a snare.\\nUnfortunately there are other facts which point out very clear-\\nly the existence of an organic disease in these vessels, requir-\\ning the utmost vigilance to guard against, the presence of\\nwhich is abundantly proved. A number of these vessels are\\njust now coming out, and it so happened that on Saturday, the\\nsixteenth day after this explosion, the Pawtuxet, having been\\nrun for ninety-six hours at the dock, was taken out on a trial\\ntrip from Providence. In the course of the run it became\\nnecessary to shut off the steam from the engine from some\\ncause, and thus the fact appeared that the water which had\\nseemed to be abundant in the gauges was low. Mr. Baker, an\\nexperienced engineer, who set up and ran the engine on her\\nninety-six hours trial, at once had the fires drawn from the\\nfurnaces as a measure of safety the necessity of which, under\\nthe circumstances, Mr. Sewell admitted to you when on the\\nstand and it was found that the steam-pump required twenty-\\ntwo minutes to resupply the boiler with the water found want-\\ning, although the gauges had given no warning of its absence.\\nBut for Mr. Baker, this accident would have probably had its\\ncounterpart; and so convinced of the danger of the machine\\nwas Mr. Baker, that he refused to come to New- York in the\\nvessel unless he had the control given him and he has told us\\nthese, facts and sworn to the danger. On the Chenango, the\\nexperienced engineers who ran the engine at the dock have\\ntold us that they considered their lives in danger from the lia-\\nbility to low water and so convinced were they of it that they\\nrefused to open wide the throttle-valve, though the United\\nStates engineers who were present insisted that the contract\\nrequired the engine to be run wide open. Mr. Smith, the en-\\ngineer who erected and ran the engine of the Metacomet,\\nanother of the same class, has proved here that the water could\\nonly be ke^)t in her boilers by so setting the valves that they\\nwould not fully open when the engine worked and that when\\nthose valves were ordered by Mr. Sewell to be set so as to", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "133\\nopen wider, and the vessel was run from the shop to the Navy\\nYard, the water worked so that the valves had to be put back\\nto their original position, which was done by himself at the\\nNavy Yard under orders from the Chief Engineer of the ship.\\nThe drawings of these engines have been produced before us,\\nand the measurements made of the cubic feet of vacant space\\nwhich existed in these cylinders between the valves when\\nthey are closed, and the piston when at the extreme end of the\\ncylinder nearest the closed valves, and it appears that these\\nspaces are great enough to hold more than sixteen hundred\\npounds of water at a revolution before they will be filled so as\\nto arrest the motion of the piston as it approaches the end of\\nthe cylinder, and compel the opening of the relief- valves, which\\nare placed in each end of the cylinder to prevent the destruc-\\ntion of the engine by the confinement of the solid water in the\\ncylinder; yet it appears here that even more than this quan-\\ntity of water would at times come over from the boiler at a\\nrevolution, and that these self-acting relief- valves had to be\\nopened constantly by hand to permit the escape of this enor-\\nmous quantity of water more freely than it could be voided by\\nthe self acting valves. When it is considered that only about\\nnine pounds of water in the shape of steam are needed to make\\nthe ordinary revolution of these engines, and that at times they\\ndraw even more than three-quarters of a ton of water at a\\nrevolution, it is very easy to see how the boilers might be\\nrobbed of their water in a very few minutes, and the attention\\nof an ordinary man be eluded. The coal burned by the Che-\\nnango on her trial has been proved, and the amount of steam\\nwhich that coal produced has been measured on the indicator\\ndiagrams which were taken on the trials, by which it is proved\\nthat in the form of steam these boilers only evaporate from\\nthree to four pounds of water to the pound of coal, whereas if\\nthey did not use up the heat by carrying it off from the boiler\\nin hot water, they would evaporate seven or eight pounds of\\nwater into steam and it is testified to here, and the calcula-\\ntions show upon the indicator diagrams themselves, that these\\nengines must have been working out of the boilers, in water,\\non an average during the ninety-six hours of the trial, about\\nsix times as much hot water as steam. Of the accuracv of", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "134\\nsuch calculation, based upon comparing the weight of coal\\nburned, with the cubic feet of steam used by the engine, you\\nare, perhaps, better judges than I am but it is to be remarked\\nthat these calculations have been on the table for several days\\nchallenging contradiction, and that they are not disputed. It\\nis further proved here that a considerable number of these ves-\\nsels, exactly like the Chenango, have been recently built and\\ntried, an that they are now awaiting orders for sea yet no\\nwitness has appeared before us to say that any of the other of\\nthese vessels have operated differently from those whose per-\\nformance has been proved although there is no want of proof\\nthat when these boilers are arranged with a high steam space\\nabove the ends of the tubes, and a steam chimney, they do not\\nwork out their water. It would have been much more instruc-\\ntive to us if the engineers who have run so many of these low-\\nroofed boilers had been produced, instead of those whose only\\nexperience has been with boilers not liable to that difficulty.\\nWe are informed by Mr. Sewell that a superheating apparatus\\nhas been applied to one of these double-enders, called the Eu-\\ntaw, and it appears that a large number of such appliances are\\nbeing manufactured by order of the Navy Department, to be\\ncombined with these boilers in naval vessels, while at the same\\ntime a publication had been given in evidence, issued in 1863, un-\\nder the authority of the Navy Department, in which this pro-\\nposition is made The advantageous use of superheated steam\\ntime appears to be confined to the case of bad boilers,\\nand which prime badly, and this proposition is followed by the\\ndeclaration that there are insuperable objections to the use of\\nsuperheated steam, even with bad boilers, particularly\\non account of its danger, and the complicated system of valves,\\nthereby entailed for provision must be made for shutting off\\nat a moment s notice, and resorting to the use of saturated\\nsteam. It would seem, therefore, that when the department\\nresorts to the use of an apparatus pronounced dangerous, there\\ncould have been no less urgent reason for it than the one that\\nis suggested in the book, which is to convert the water which\\nis primed, or worked over from the boiler into steam on its\\npassage to the engine; and this of course admits the presence\\nof a large amount of water between the boiler and the engine.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "135\\nThe Secretary of the Navy was kind enough, in answer to my\\napplication, to promise me that Mr. Isherwood, the Engineer-in-\\nChief of the Navy, should attend us, and give us the benefit of\\nhis knowledge and experience in our efforts to reach the cause\\nof this melancholy disaster and in reply to my subpoena, Mr.\\nIsherwood himself sent me a telegram, fixing last Thursday as\\nthe day when we might expect him. On that day he was. in\\nNew-York as he had promised but unfortunately he found\\nthe pressure of his onerous duties elsewhere too great to per-\\nmit him to afford us the time for an examination. This I the\\nmore regret, as Mr. Isherwood might have satisfactorily ex-\\nplained to us the very urgent reasons which must have con-\\ntrolled him in selecting this species of boiler, which by their\\nheight are more liable to be struck by shot in action than if\\nthe tubes which are used to aid in the production of steam were\\nplaced behind or on one side of the furnace, as is usual, instead\\nof on the top of the furnace, as in this case and I was the more\\ndesirous of receiving that explanation after having heard read\\nthe report of the board of eminent engineers who were called\\nby the Secretary of the Navy in January, 1863, to pronounce\\ntheir opinion on these double-ender boilers, then to be con-\\nstructed, and whose report has been produced before us, in\\nwhich they say that on the whole we are compelled to con-\\nsider the type of the boiler used in these steamers as inferior\\nto the horizontal tubular boiler, which is generally used by\\nother nations, and by this country in the mercantile marine.\\nBut as Mr. Isherwood has been deprived of the opportunity\\nof giving us this information by the pressure of his duties else-\\nwhere, I am unable to give you any assistance in solving this\\ndifficulty. With these remarks upon the testimony, I propose\\nto submit the further consideration of this sad case to your\\njudgment. The effect of this investigation can not fail to be\\nvery important in any aspect it may assume. The whole coun-\\ntry is interested in knowing the true reason of this explosion.\\nThe victims of the disaster exceed in number those who have\\nperished from any explosion which I can now recall to memory\\nand, according to the opinion of both scientific and practical\\nmen, a repetition of it may be expected at any time to occur, so\\nlong as the combination which existed in the Chenango is used.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "136\\nMr. Dickerson wrote a letter to Hon. Winter Davis, warning him\\nof the danger, when a trial trip was to be made on one of these\\nvessels. Mr. Baker narrowly escaped destruction by explosion,\\non another one the very day after this accident, and he refused\\nto go on the vessel unless with entire control and the practi-\\ncal men who ran this engine at the dock absolutely refused to\\ninour the risk which would be encountered in opening the\\nboiler freely to the engine. Under these circumstances, we\\nshould be false to our duty, either as citizens or as officers of\\nthe law, if we shrank from placing the responsibility where it\\nbelongs. You must guard your minds from being influenced by\\nany other considerations than the testimony itself; and you have\\nno right to find any verdict except one based upon established\\nfacts and according to established natural laws. If we should\\nlisten to other reasons than those, we might give any number\\nof explanations which imagination could suggest. We find\\nfrom the published statements that the Board of United States\\nEngineers, which was convened by order of the Secretary of\\nthe Navy, to give their opinion on the cause of the calamity,\\nreported that a defective vein in the sheet of boiler-iron caused\\nthe accident, and I wished Mr. Isherwood s judgment on that\\nif we could have had it yet no witness here has suggested that\\nexplanation as possibly true, any more than that Board has\\nsuggested weakened braces as the cause. And some have gone\\nso far as to propose the possibility that foul means had been\\nresorted to, such as the use of gunpowder. But we all know\\nthat boilers constantly do explode from low water, and that\\nthere are but few other causes for explosion known in the\\nworld than those which depend upon low water. It is not\\nvery surprising, perhaps, that among the great numbers of ves-\\nsels used by the United States and placed in the hand of young\\nmen who have had but little experience, and who are employed\\nwhen there is a scarcity of engineers, on account of the great\\ndemand for the services of such men suddenly made by the\\nNavy, that an explosion should occur at some time and if the\\nmachinery were of the ordinary kind the accident would ex-\\ncite no unusual interest. But when it occurs on machinery\\npeculiar in its construction, and which had been condemned as\\ninferior by an official board of the most eminent engineers in", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "137\\nthe country, and when it appears that those peculiarities have\\nso exhibited their dangerous qualities as to alarm practical and\\nscientific men, and to induce them to foretell an accident of\\nthis kind; and when we find these peculiarities existing on a\\ngreat number of other vessels just now coming into use, upon\\nwhich the lives of our fellow-citizens are to be intrusted, then\\nit is of serious consequence, and demands of us to raise a\\nvoice of warning in time to prevent any more such horrors as\\nwe have witnessed. Our brave men, who are willing to expose\\ntheir bosoms to the enemy s shot, ought not to be subjected to\\nthe chances of a horrible death at the hands of their own\\nfriends, and in their own floating homes.", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "138\\nTHE TWO VERDICTS.\\nWe, the Jury empanneled by Thomas P. Nbrris, one of the\\nCoroners of Kings County, State of New-York, to inquire\\ninto the circumstances surrounding the death of\\nJoseph A. Cahill,. Alfred Yates,\\nAlbert Murray, Martin Mitchell,\\nFrank P. Root, John Ruddy,\\nJohn White, John Murphy,\\nFranklin Silver, John M. Smith,\\nJohn Reilly, James A. Macomby,\\nWilliam M. Weir, Bernard Boyle,\\nJames Lyons, Archibald Fleming,\\nCharles Wiles, Henry Livingston,\\nGeorge Wilson, Barney Cannagan,\\nSamuel Randall, Michael Roddy,\\nWheeler Sherman, William Bons,\\nEugene O Heary, John Mahan,\\nWilliam Hickey, James Smith,\\nfind as follows\\nThat the Government ordered a number of boilers to be\\nconstructed to suit a number of gunboats, of which the Che-\\nnango was one. That Mr. George W. Quintard, of the Morgan\\nIron Works, New- York, received the order from the Govern-\\nment for the boilers and engines of the Chenango. That he\\nconstructed them according to drawings and specifications mi-\\nnutely given, except the bracing, which was done according to\\nthe maker s judgment, under the constant supervision of a\\nGovernment officer. That they were subjected to the inspec-\\ntion and a test of cold-water pressure on the boilers of fifty-\\neight pounds on the gauge, and two pounds for the height of\\nthe water in the pipe, making, as was supposed .by the officer,\\nsixty pounds of cold-water pressure to the square inch. That\\nthe stops w T ere then carefully examined by the boiler-maker to\\nsee that they had all sustained the pressure without fracture\\nor giving way, and found to have sustained no damage from\\nthis pressure. That they were then run at the dock of Mr.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "139\\nGeorge W. Quintard, as a trial test according to the specifica-\\ntions, for ninety-six hours by experienced engineers, tinder the\\ninspection of Government officers, having at times during this\\ntrial a pressure as high as forty pounds to the inch. That the\\nboilers and engines of the Chenango were finally completed\\nand delivered to the Government. That they were then ac-\\ncepted by the Government as correct according to specifications.\\nThat the Chenango was then removed from the dock of Mr.\\nQuintard to the Navy Yard in Brooklyn. That on the 15th\\nday of April, 1864, at about quarter before three o clock p.m.,\\nthe boat left the Navy Yard, and proceeded down the bay on\\nher first voyage to sea.\\nAt Governor s Island the record shows that they had but\\ntwenty -six and a half pounds of steam, and at the Narrows the\\nboiler exploded under a pressure, as the indicator-card shows,\\nof not more than thirty-four and a half pounds.\\nWhat the immediate cause of the explosion was is shrouded\\nin mystery, for (as in all such cases) the life that could tell is\\ntaken away with the disaster, and the living are left to conjec-\\nture the cause as best they can.\\nThat there is great fault in the staying of the boiler from\\nthe roof to the tube-boxes is manifest to all. Yet it is impos-\\nsible that it should have given way at a pressure less than\\ntioenty-five pounds, having been tested with cold water at sixty\\npounds the braces all carefully examined, and found to have\\nstood the pressure without fracture, and in the face of the\\nevidence that there are eighteen more of them noio running\\nat higher pressures, stayed in the same way and by the same\\nman.\\nBut the -well-known laws of science and mechanical arts, so\\ncarefully and beautifully brought out during this trial, can,\\nwe think, fathom the mystery, and point with unerring .aim to\\nthe causes of this disaster.\\nTaking the peculiar construction of the boiler, (drawing the\\nsteam, as it did, but eighteen inches above the water-line,)\\nwith vertical tubular fire-surfaces placed directly over the\\ncrown of the fire-box, throwing the foaming water upward\\nthrough the tubes as through a series of gun-barrels, and in", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "140\\ncontact with the steam-pipe that is placed ready to draw it\\nthrough the engine.\\nThe clear evidence that the engine had worked water in\\nlarge qicantities from the time she was first started that the\\npump of nine inches diameter, throwing seventy-two pounds\\nof water to the stroke, while the cylinder required but nine\\npounds, was unable to keep up a supply, and the tendency of\\nall new boilers to foam, especially when drawn upon beyond\\ntheir capacity thus deceiving the engineer as to the true con-\\ndition of the water, and exposing an immediate area of surface\\n(about one hundred and eighty feet less the bore of the tubes)\\nto the intensity of the fire, (for it had but six inches to fall to\\ndo this.) generating, as it would with fearful rapidity, a dan-\\ngerous gas, ready to lick up the water at the slightest agitation\\nfrom without, and expand itself beyond the power of the boiler\\nto resist.\\nThe presence of burnt felt and melted lead on the edges of\\nthe rupture after the explosion, that can only be accounted for\\nby the escape of this gas. Taking these facts so clearly given,\\nand we need be at no difficulty to account for this explosion,\\nor point directly to its cause.\\nWe therefore find that this boiler exploded from low water\\nand superheated steam.\\nAbraham Inslee, Foreman,\\nWilliam H. Bigelow,\\nTheodore Ovington,\\nRobert G. Anderson.\\nMAJORITY VERDICT.\\nWe the undersigned jurors, forming a majority empanneled\\nby Thomas P. JSTorris, Esquire, one of the Coroners of Kings\\nCounty, State of New- York, to inquire into the circumstances\\nsurrounding the death of, [here follow the names of the de*\\nceased men,] find\\nThat these men met their death from scalds and inhalation\\nof steam on board the United States gunboat Chenango by the\\nbursting of one of the boilers, which was caused by a greater\\ntension exerted on the boiler than it could bear, the result of\\nimproper bracing.", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "141\\nThe stays of the boiler being sixty-four in number, and at-\\ntached to the side of the tube-boxes by thirty-two tugs, where-\\nas the drawing calls for sixty-four braces attached to sixty-four\\ntugs, thereby reducing the strength of the bracing to about\\none half of that shown in the drawing, also doubling the\\nchances of rupture if a stay, by carelessness, should be left out,\\nand the jurors consider the Inspector of such boilers highly\\ncensurable, as they consider it was his duty to have reported\\nto his immediate superior where so vital a change as this had\\ntaken place in the construction of this boiler.\\nWe also felt, from the evidence shown, that this accident\\narose from a gradual increase of tension of ordinary steam, and\\nnot from superheated or explosive steam. There is no evi-\\ndence of explosive steam being generated. The testimony of\\nthe surviving Engineer and of Captain Fillebrown are conclu-\\nsive that the engine and boilers were in fine working condition,\\nand from the short period of one hour elapsing from the time\\nshe left her mooring at the Navy Yard and the time of the\\naccident, and the active circulation of the fluids, renders it an\\nimpossibility that the water could have been too low at the\\ntime of the accident.\\nThese engines returning the water of condensation to the\\nboilers, and the foaming taking place during this short period,\\nwould have precluded the possibility of the report of the En-\\ngineer, Mr. Cahill, to the Captain.\\nWe also believe that the Martin boilers on board such ves-\\nsels, when properly constructed, are not more dangerous than\\nother boilers under similar circumstances.\\nWilliam Arthur,\\nNorman Hubbard,\\nThomas Kelly, Y Jurors.\\nK. J. Hutchinson,\\nLancelot Kerkup,", "height": "4291", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n029 827 669", "height": "4264", "width": "2722", "jp2-path": "boilerexplosiono00newy_0144.jp2"}}