STEAM NAVIGATION.
TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SrECTATOR.
London, 8th October 1838.
Sin—Being a constant reader and subscriber to your journal, I have observed with pleasure the interest you take in the all-important subject of steam nevi- gatiun, by devoting a portion of your columns to the discussion of various im- provements that have been lately introduced in the economizing of fuel and space in sea-going vessels. My attention was again drawn to this topic by a letter from Liverpool, in last week's Spectator, signed " W. F." I am sur- prised, among the minor improvements he has mentioned, the most important has been omitted, one which totally subverts the old-established plan of boilers, and introduces a new aera in steam-vessels for long voyages. There is a ship now at Liverpool, called the Columbus, that was destined for the New York line, of about 400 tons burden, that will carry 50 days fuel, make up 60 sleeping-berths, and carry 150 tons of goods, to be propelled by steam generated on the principle of Mr. 1-low*no's Patent Vapour-niers. The reason that this has not been long since brought more prominently forward is, that individual capital and exertion have been the only means used to bring the same to perfection : with the exception of a trial made about four years since, in the Comet Government steamer, on a voyage to Lisbon, it proved a failure from a defect in the construction of the plates of iron which confined the metal. The boilers having been sule4ituted for the vapoui isers on the return of the ves- sel, it has not been again tried, as far as Government is concerned ; and its in- troduction to public notice has been left, as I mentioned before, to the unaided perseverance of the inventor. 1 do not possess a sufficient knowledge of the subject to give a scientific description of the Vapoutiser ; but it may be shortly stated as follows: On an iron plate with cups containing an amalgam of one- third quicksilver with two-thirds other metal, is screwed and hermetically se- cured another plate of iron, on which a jet of water is constantly thrown, which, being converted into steam, is conveyed into a chamber for the use of the engine, the whole of which is surrounded by heat produced from a coke fire retained at a white heat by means of blowers driven by the machinery, the whole being enclosed in brickwork. In the Vesta packet, which has been running this season on the Ramsgate station, this brickwork is to be seen placed on both sides of the engine-room : thus, should one of the vapourisers be- come deranged or any accident happen to the machinery, the other will still generate steam for the propulsion of the vessel. 'this was proved on a passage she lately made from Ramsgate. At the Nore the condensing pump became choked : a vessel on the old construction must have stopped; but by the help of the other vapuuriser she was enabled to continue her voyage to NICHOLSON'S Wharf. hi economizing space two-thirds of the room is saved ; the weight of a boiler, water, soil funnel, for a similar vessel would be 40 tons ; the Vesta's is about 5 tons. With regard to fuel, lfr tons of coke enables the vessel to perform her voyage in 7 to 9 hours to Ramsgate. She has 2 40-horee power engines. Your correspondent states, that the consumption of fuel is re- duced in the improved vessels he mentions, from I ton to 12 hundredweight for 10-horse power per day. If I am correct in the information I have received, this is refuted in the consumption of fuel in the Great Western. On her last voy- age from New York, made under favourable circumstance*, she consumed 27 tons of coals besides resin every 24 hours, or 15 hundredweight fur the same period per 10.hume power. The Vesta takes a ton of the above to raise the plate to the heat requisite for the generation of the steam, leeviog I ton of fuel for the voyage, or 7i hundredweight for 10-borse power per day. The import- ance of this invention in safety, space, and economy, is so comiderable that it is well worth the trouble of inquiring bow fur it is applicable to long voyages. My information on the subject is derived from several tripe I have made this sum- mer in the Vesta to Ramsgate as a passenger ; but I have no doubt that an ac- count more in detail might be obtained should you consider the subject worthy of discussion in your journal.
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