CHAP. XIV
AMERICAN STEAM NAVIGATION.
STEAM NAVIGATION FIRST ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA.- CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO IT.- FLICH AND HUMSEY.- STEVENS OF HOBOKEN- LIVINGSTONE AND FULTON- EXPERIMANTS ON THE SEINE- FULTON'S FIRST BOAT- THE HUDSON NAVIGATED BY STEAM- EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF RIVER NAVIGATION- SPEED OF AMERICAN STEAMERS. .
(228) The credit of having afforded the first practical solution of the problem to apply the steam engine to the propulsion of ships, undoubtedly belongs to the people of United States of America. The geographical character of the vast country, not less than the sanguine and enterprising spirit of the nation, contributed to this. A coast of four thousand miles in extent, stretching from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the embouchures of the Mississippi, indented and
488 STEAM ENGINES
serrated in every part with natural harbors and sheltered bays, and fringed with islands forming sounds -capes, and promontories enclosing arms of the sea, in which the waters are free from the roll of the ocean, and take the placid character of lakes, rivers of imposing magnitude, navigable for vessels of the, largest class, for many hundreds and in some instances for many thousands of miles, affording access to the innermost population of an empire, whose area vastly exceeds the whole European continent,-chains of lakes composed of the most extensive bodies of fresh water in the known world, and this extensive continent peopled by races carrying with them the habits and feelings together with much of the &kill and knowledge of the most civilized parts of the globe, endowed also with that inextinguishable spirit of enterprise which ever belongs to an emigrant people, form a combination of circumstances more than sufficient to account for the fact of this nation snatching from England, the parent of the steam engine, the honour of first, bringing into practical operation one of the most important if indeed it be not altogether the most important of the many applications of that machine to the uses of life. The circumstances which rendered these extensive tracts of inland and coast navigation eminently suited to the application of steam power, formed so many obstructions and difficulties to the application of other more ordinary means of locomotion on water. The sheltered bays and sounds which offered a smooth and undisturbed surface to the action of the infant steamer argued the absence of that element which gave effect to the sails and rigging of the wind-propelled ship, and the rapid currents of the gigantic streams formed by the drainage of this great continent, though facilitating access to the coast, rendered the oar powerless in the ascent. (229.) The first great discovery of Watt had scarcely been realized in practice by the construction of the single-acting steam-engine, when the Speculative and enterprising Americans conceived the project of applying it as a moving power in their inland navigation. So early as the year 1783
INVENTION OF STEAM NAVIGATION. 489
Fitch and Rumsey made attempts to apply the single-acting engine to the propulsion of vessels, and their failure, is said to have arisen more from the inherent defects of that machine in reference to this application of it, than from any want of ingenuity or mechanical skill on their parts. In 1791, John Stevens of Hoboken commenced his experiments on steam navigation, which were continued for sixteen years; during a part -of this period he was assisted by Livingstone (who was subsequently instrumental in advancing the views of Fulton), and by Roosevelt. These projectors had, at that time also, the assistance and advice of Brunel, since so celebrated for the invention of the block )machinery, and the construction of the Thames Tunnel. Their proceedings were interrupted by the appointment of Livingstone as American Mister at Paris, under the Consular Government. At Paris, Livingstone met Fulton, who had been previously engaged in similar speculations, and being struck with his mechanical skill, And the soundness of his views, joined him in causing a series of experiments to be made, which were accordingly carried on at Plombi6res, and subsequently on a still more extensive scale on the Seine, near Paris. Having by this course of experiments obtained proofs of the efficiency of Fulton's projects, sufficient to satisfy the mind of Livingstone, he agreed to obtain for Fulton the funds necessary to construct a steam boat on a large scale, to be worked upon the Hudson. It was decided, in order to give the project the best chance of success, to obtain the machinery from Bolton and Watt. In 1803, Fulton accordingly made drawings of the engines intended for this first steamer, which were sent to Soho, with an order for their construction. Fulton, rnean while, repaired to America, to superintend the construction of the boat. The delays incidental to these proceedings retarded the completion of the boat and machinery until the year 1807, when all was completed, and the first successful experiment' made at New York. The vessel was placed, for regular work, to ply between' New York and Albany.),, in the beginning of 1808; and, from that time to this present, this river has been the theatre of the most
490 THE STEAM ENGINE.
Remarkable series of experiments on locomotion on water which has ever been presented in the history of navigation.
(230.) The form and arrangement of this first marine engine was, in many respects, similar to that which is still generally used for marine purposes. The cold water cistern was abandoned, and an increased condensing power obtained by enlarging the condenser. It was usual to make the condenser half the diameter of the cylinder, and half its length, and therefore one eighth of its capacity The condenser, however, was now made of the same diameter as the cylinder, being still half its length; its capacity therefore, instead of being only an eighth, was half of the cylinder; the condensing jet by a pipe passing through the bottom of the vessel. As in the present marine engines, two working beams were provided, one at either side of the cylinder; but in order to provide against the difficulties which might arise in the adaptation of machinery made at Birmingham to a vessel made at New York, beams were constructed in the form of an inverted I, the working arms being twofold, one horizontal and the other vertical, so that the connecting rod might be sea from the crank, either downwards, to the end of the horizontal arm, or horizontally, to the end of the vertical arm. In fact there was a choice, to use either a straight beam, or a bell-crank. The latter was that which was adopted in this instance. The paddle-shaft, driven by the crank, passed across the vessel, and had the paddle-wheels keyed upon it as at present; and in order to equalise the effect of the engine spur wheels were also placed on the paddle-shaft, by which pinions were driven, placed upon an axle, which carried flywheel. The speed attained by this steam boat, when it first began to ply upon the river, did not exceed four miles an hour, but by a series of improvements its rate of motion was soon increased to six miles an hour. in the steam boats subsequently constructed by Fulton a greater speed was attained; but in the latest vessels built by him he did not exceed a speed of nine miles an hour, which be considered to be the greatest that could be advantageously obtained. While Fulton was making his plans, and engaged in the
491 STEAMERS ON THE HUDSON.
construction of his first boat, Mr. Stevens of Hoboken, already mentioned, was engaged in a like project, and completed a vessel, to be propelled by a steam engine, within a few weeks after the first successful voyage of Fulton. Stevens was likewise completely successful; but the exclusive .privilege of navigating the Hudson by steam having been granted to Fulton by an act of Congress, Stevens was compelled to select another theatre for his operations, and he accordingly sent his steam boat by sea to Philadelphia, to navigate the Delaware, thus securing for himself the honour of having made the first sea voyage by steam. Fulton did not long retain the monopoly of the steam navigation of the Hudson. Fortunately for the progress of steam navigation, the act conferring upon him that privilege was declared unconstitutional; and the navigation of that noble river was thrown open to the spirit and enterprise of American genius. The number of passengers conveyed upon it became enormous beyond all precedent, and inducements of the strongest kind were accordingly held out to the improve-ment of its navigation. The distance between New York and Albany, ascertained by a late survey to be one hundred and twenty-five geographical miles by water had been performed by Fulton boats occasionally in fifteen or sixteen hours, being at the rate of about 'eight miles an hour, including stoppages. It became a great object to increase the speed of this trip, so that it might 4#t all times of the year be performed between sunrises and sunset. Robert L. Stevens, the son of the person of that name already mentioned, immediately after the abolition of Fulton's monopoly, placed on the river a vessel which had been built for the Delaware, which easily performed the' passage in twelve hours, being at the rate of nearly ten and a half geographical miles an hour. By this increase of speed the improved boats.3o entirely monopolised the day work upon the river, that the former steamers were either converted into steam tugs to draw barges laden with goods, or used for night trips between New York- and Albany. In the night trips the saving of one or two hours was immaterial, it being sufficient that the vessel which left the one port at night should reach the other in the morning.
492 THE STEAM ENGINE
The river Hudson rises near Lake Champlain, the easternmost of the great chain of lakes or inland seas which extend from east to west across the northern boundary of the United States. The river follows nearly a straight course southwards for two hundred and fifty miles, and empties itself into the sea at New York. The influence of the tide is felt as far as Albany, above which the stream begins to contract. Although this river in magnitude and extent is by no means equal to several others which intersect the States, it is nevertheless rendered an object of great interest by reason of the importance and extent of its trade. The produce of the state of New York and that of the banks of the great Lakes Ontario and Erie are transported by it to the capital; and one of the most extensive and populous districts of the United States is supplied with the necessary imports by its waters. A large fleet of vessels is constantly engaged in its navigation; nor is the tardy but picturesque sailing vessel as yet excluded by the more rapid steamers. The current of the Hudson is said to average nearly three miles an hour; but as the ebb and flow of the tide are felt as far as Albany, the passage of the steamers between that place and New York may be regarded as equally affected by currents in both directions, or nearly so. The passage therefore, whether in ascending or descending the river, is made nearly in the same time. (231.) The prevalence of smooth water navigation, whether on the surface of rivers or in sheltered bays and sounds, has invested the problem of steam navigation in America with conditions so entirely distinct and different from those under which the same problem presents itself to the European engineer, that any comparison of the performance of vessels, Whether with regard to speed or the absorption of power in the two cases, must be utterly fallacious. In Europe a steamer is almost invariably a vessel designed to encounter tile agitated surface of an open sea, and is accordingly constructed upon principles of suitable strength and stability. It is likewise supplied with rigging and with sails, to be used in aid of the mechanical power, and manned and commanded by experienced seamen ; in fact, it is a combination of a nautical and mechanical structure. In America, on the other hand,
AMERICAN RIVER STEAMERS. 493
with the exception of the vessels which navigate the great northern lakes, the steamers are structures exclusively mechanical, being designed for smooth water. They require no other strength or stability than that which is sufficient to enable them to float and to bear a progressive motion through the water. Their mould is conceived with an exclusive view to speed; they are therefore slender and weak in their build, of great length in proportion to their width, and having a very small draugbt of water. In fact, they approach in their form to that of a Thames wherry on a very large scale. The position and form of the machinery is likewise affected by these conditions. Without the necessity of being protected from a rough sea, it is placed on the deck in an elevated position. The cylinders of large diameter and short stroke invariably used in Europe are unknown in America, and the proportions are reversed, a small diameter and stroke of great length being invariably adopted. It is rarely that two engines are used. A single engine, placed in the centre of the deck, with a cylinder from forty to sixty inches' diameter, and from eight to ten foot stroke, drives paddle-wheels from twenty-one to twenty-five feet in diameter, producing from twenty-five to thirty revolutions per minutes The great magnitude of the paddle-wheels and the velocity impacted to them enable them to perform the office of fly-wheels, and to carry the engine round its centres, not however without a perceptible inequality of motion, which gives to the American steamer an effect like that of a row boat advancing by starts with each stroke of the piston, The length of stroke adopted in these engines enables them to apply with great effect the expansive principle, which is almost universally used, the steam being generally cut off at half stroke.
The steamers which navigate the Hudson are vessels of considerable magnitude, splendidly fitted up for the accommodation of passengers they vary from one hundred and eighty to two Hundred and forty feet in length, and from twenty to thirty feet in width of beam In the following table is given the particulars of nine steamers plying on this river, taken from
494 THE STEAM ENGINE.
NAMES: Length Breadth Draft Drain Length
Depth Num. Drain
of Deck of Beam of Water of Wheel of Paddles
of Paddles of Engs. of Cylinder
Ft. Ft. Ft. Ft.
Ft. Ft. Ft. Ft.
Clinton 230 28 5'5 21
13'7 36 1 65
Champlain 180 27 5'5 22
15 34 2 44
Erie 180 27 5'5 22
15 34 2 44
N. America 200 30 5 21
13 30 2 44'5
Independence 148 26 / /
/ / 1 44
Albany 212 26 / 24'5
14 30 1 65
Swallow 233 22'5 3'75 24
11 30 1 46M
Rochester 200 25 3'75 23'5 10
24 1 43
Utica 200 21 3'5 22
9'5 24 1 39
AMERICAN RIVER STEAMERS 495
The hulls of these boats are formed with a perfectly flat bottom and perpendicular sides, rounded at the angles, as represented in fig. 135. At the bow, or cutwater, they are
made very sharp, and the deck projects to a great distance over the sides. The weight of the machinery is distributed over an extensive surface of the bottom of this feeble structure, by means of a framework of substantial carpentry to which it is attached. At the height of from four to six feet above the water-line is placed the deck, which is a platform, having the shape of a very elongated ellipse. The extremities of its longer axis are supported by the sternpost and tile cutwater, and its sides expand in gentle curves on either hand to a considerable distance beyond the limits of the hull; those parts of the deck thus overhanging the water are - called the wheel guards. Beneath the first deck is the saloon, or dining-room, which also, as is usual in European ' steamers, forms the gentlemen's sleeping-room. It usually extends from end to end of the vessel. The middle of the first deck is occupied by the engine, boilers, furnaces, and chimneys, of which latter there are generally two. , Between tile chimneys and the stern, above the first deck, is constructed the ladies cabin, which is covered by the second deck, called the promenade deck. The great length of these boats and, the elevation of tile ethnic.,, render it impossible for a steersman at the stern to see ahead, and they are, consequently, steered front the bow: the wheel placed there communicating with the hull at the stern, by chains or rods carried along the sides of the boat. Until a recent period, the wheel was connected with the stern by ropes, but some fatal accidents, produced by fire,
496 THE STEAM ENGINE
in which these-- ropes were burnt, and the steersman lost all power to guide the vessel, caused metal rods or claims to be substituted. (232.) The paddle-wheels universally used in American steam-boats are formed, as if by the combination of two or more common paddle-wheels, placed one outside the other, on the same axle, but so that the paddle boards of each may have an intermediate position between those of the adjacent one, as represented in fig. 1 3 6.
The spokes, which are bolted to cast-iron flanges, are of wood. These flanges, to which they are so bolted, are keyed upon the paddle shaft. The outer extremities of the spokes are attached to circular bands of iron, surrounding the wheel; and the paddle boards, which are formed of hard wood, are bolted to the spokes. The wheels thus constructed, sometimes consist of three, and not infrequently four, independent circles of paddle boards, placed one beside the other, and so adjusted in their position, that the boards of no two divisions shall correspond.
The great magnitude of the paddle-wheels, and the circumstance of the navigation being carried on, for the most part, in smooth water, have rendered unnecessary, in America, the adoption of any of those expedients for neutralising the effects of the oblique action of the paddles, which have been tried, but hitherto wit], so little success, in Europe.
Sea going steamers arc not numerous the chief of them being those which ply between New York and Providence, and between New York and Charleston. These vessels, however, do not reliable the sea-going steamers of' Europe as closely is ,night be expected; and to the latter, the sea-going
AMERICAN SEA STEAMERS 497
steamers of America can hardly be regarded as safe means of transport.
The Narragement, the finest of these vessels, is built of oak, strengthened by diagonal straps or ties of iron, by which her timbers are connected; site is driven by a condensing engine, and has two boilers, exposing about three thousand square feet of surface to the fire. The steamer is maintained at a pressure of twenty to twenty-five tbs. per square inch: the cylinder is Horizontal. The cabins of these sea-boats are of great magnitude, and offer excellent accommodation for containing generally four hundred berths.In the Massachusetts the chief cabin is one hundred and sixty feet long, twenty-two feet wide, and twelve feet in length, its vast extent being uninterrupted by pillars or any other obstruction. ,I have dined," says Stevenson, with one hundred seventy persons five ion this cabin not withstanding this numerous assembly, the tables which were arranged in two parallel rows. There are on hundred and twelve fixed berths can be erected in the middle of the floor: besides these there are sixty fixed berths in the ladies' cabin and several temporary sleep-
THE STEAM ENGINE 498
ing places can be erected in it also. The cabin of the Massachusetts is by no means the largest in the United States. Some steamers have cabins upwards of one hundred and seventy-five feet in length. Those large saloons are lighted by Argaild lamps, suspended from the ceiling, and their appearance, when brilliantly lighted up and filled with company, is very remarkable. The passengers generally exchange themselves in parties at the numerous small tables into which the large tables are converted after dinner, and engage in different amusements. The scene resembles much more the coffee-room of some great hotel than the cabin of a floating vessel." (234.) Nothing has excited more surprise among engineers and others interested in steam navigation in Europe, than the statements which have been so generally and so confidently made of the speed attained by American steamers. This astonishment is due to several causes, the chief of which is the omission of all notice of the great difference between the structure and operation of the American steamers and the nature of the navigation in which they are engaged, compared with the structure and operation of, and the navigation in which European steamers are employed: as well might the performance of a Thames wherry, or one of the fly-boats on the northern canals, be compared with that of the Great Western, or the British Queen. The statements alluded to all have reference to steamers navigating the Hudson between New York and Albany, the form and structure of which we have already described; and doubtless the greatest speed ever attained on the surface of water has been exhibited in the passages of these vessels. Mr. Stevenson states, that exclusive of the time lost in stoppages, the voyage between New York and Albany is usually made in ten hours. Dr. Renwick, however, who has probably more extensive opportunities of observation, states, that the average time, exclusive of stoppages, is ten hours and a half. The distance being 125.18 geographical miles, the average rate would therefore be 11 9/10 miles per hour, If it be observed that the average rate of some of the best sea-going steamers in Europe obtained from experiments
LAKE STEAMERS. 499
and observations made by myself, more than three years ago, showed a rate of steaming little less than ten geographical miles per hour, and that since that time considerable improvements in steam navigation have been made, and further, that these performances were made under exposure to all the disadvantages of an open sea, the difference between them and the performance of the American river steamers will cease to create astonishment. Dr. Renwick states that be made, in a boat called the 46 New Philadelphia," one of the most remarkable passages ever performed. He left New York at five in ' the afternoon, with the first of the flood, and landed at Catskill, distant 95-8 geographical miles from New York, at a quarter before twelve. Passengers were landed and taken in at seven intermediate points: the rate, including stoppages, was therefore 14-2 miles per hour; and if half all hour be allowed for stoppages, tile actual average rate of motion would be fifteen miles and three quarters all hour. As the current, which in this case was with the course of the vessel, did not exceed three miles and a half an hour, the absolute velocity through the water would have been somewhat under twelve miles an hour. This speed is nearly the same as the speed obtained from taking the average time of the voyages between New York and Albany at ten hours and a half ; it would therefore appear that the great speed attained in this trip must have been chiefly, if not altogether, owing to the effect of the current. (235.) The steamers which navigate the great northern lakes differ so little in their construction and appearance from the European steamboats, that it will not be necessary here to devote any considerable space . to an account of them. These vessels were introduced oil the lakes at about the same time that steamers were first introduced oil the Clyde. These steamers are strongly built vessels, supplied with sails and rigging, and propelled by powerful engines. The largest in 1837, when Mr. Stevenson visited the States, was the James Madison. This vessel was one hundred and eighty one feet in length on the deck, thirty feet in breadth of beam, and twelve feet six inches in depth of hold: her draught of water was ten feet, and her measured capacity seven hundred
THE STEAM ENGINE. 500
tons. She plyed between Buffalo on Lake Brie and Chicago Lake Michigan, a distance of nine hundred and fifty miles The severe storms and formidable sea encountered on the lakes render necessary for tile navigation, vessels in all respects as strong and powerful us those which navigate the open ocean. (M.) By for the most remarkable and important of all the American rivers at the Mississippi and distributors. That part of the American continent which extends from the southern shores of the great northern lakes t o tile northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, is watered by these great streams. The main stream of the Mississippi has its fountains in the tract of country lying north of the Illinois and east of Lake Michigan, in latitude forty-three degrees. At about latitude thirty nine degrees, a little north of St. Louis, it receives the waters of the Missouri, and further south, at the latitude of thirty seven degrees, the Ohio flows into it, after traversing five degrees of longitude and four of latitude, and winding its way from the Alleghany ranged through several of the states, and forming a navigable communication with numerous important towns of the Union, among which may be mentioned Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Frankfort, Lexington, and Louisville. The. Main stream of the Mississippi, after receiving the waters of the Arkansas, and numerous other minor tributaries, flows into the Gulf of Mexico by four months. The main stream of the Mississippi, independently of its tributaries, forms an unbroken course of inland navigation file r a distance of nearly two thousand three hundred miles. Its width, through a distance of one thousand one hundred miles from its mouth, is not less than half a mile, and its average depth a hundred feet. The Ohio, its chief eastern tributary, flowing into it at a distance of about a thousand miles, from its mouth, traverses also about the same extent of country, and is navigable throughout the whole of that extent. This river also has several navigable tributaries of considerable extent, among which May be mentioned the Muskingum, navigable for one hundred and twenty miles ;'the Miami, navigable for seventy five miles; the Scioto, navigable for one hundred and twenty
MISSISSIPPI STEAMERS 501
miles; the Tennessee, navigable for two hundred and fifty miles; the Cumberland, 'navigable for four hundred end forty miles; the Kentucky, navigable for one hundred and thirty miles; and the Green River, navigable for one hundred and fifty miles. The total length of the Ohio and its tributaries estimated at above seven thousand miles. (237.) Steam-boats were introduced on the Mississippi about the year 1812, the period of their first introduction in Europe; and their increase has been rapid beyond all precedent. In the year 1831 there were one hundred and ninety, eight steamers plying on its waters; and the number in 1837 amounted to nearly four hundred. These vessels are built chiefly on the banks of the Ohio, at the towns of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, at distances of about two thousand miles from the mouth of the river they are intended to navigate. (238.) These steamers, which are decidedly inferior to those which navigate the eastern water, are generally of a, heavy build, fitted to carry goods as we as passengers,. and vary from one hundred to seven hundred tons berths. Their draught of water is also greater than that of the eastern river steamer varying from sixty eight feet. The hull about five feet from the water line, is covered with a deck, under which is the hold, in which the heavy part of the is stowed. About the, middle of this deck the engines are placed, the boilers and furnaces occupying a t; pace nearer to the bow, near which deck chimneys are placed. The fire, doors of the furnaces are presented towards the bow, and exposed so as to increase the draught. That part of the first deck which extends from the machinery to the stern is the place allotted to the crew and the deck passengers, and is described as being filthy and inconvenient in the extreme. second deck is constructed, -which extends from the chimneys near the bow to the stern of the vessel. On this is formed the great cabin or saloon, which extends from the chimney* to within about thirty feet of the stern, where it is divided by a horizontal from the ladies ladies' cabin, which occupies the remaining space. These principal cabins are surrounded by a gallery about three feet in width, from which, at convenient
502 THE STEAM ENGINE.
places, an ascent is supplied by stairs to the highest deck, called the hurricane or promenade deck. (239.) The engines by which these boats are propelled are totally different from the machinery already described as used in the eastern steamers. They are invariably non-condensing engines, worked by steam of extremely high pressure; 'the boilers are therefore tubular, and the cylinders small in diameter, but generally having a long stroke. The pressure of steam used in these machines is such as is never used in European engines, even when worked on railways. A pressure of one hundred pounds per inch is here considered extremely moderate. The captain of one of these -boats, plying between Pittsburgh and St. Louis, told Mr. Stevenson that 11 under ordinary circumstances his safety valves were loaded with a pressure equal to one hundred and forty-eight pounds per square inch, but that the steam was occasionally raised as high as one hundred and fifty pounds to enable the vessel to pass parts of the river in which there is a strong current ;'! and he added, by way of consolation, that 01 this pressure was never exceeded except on extraordinary occasions I" The dimensions and power of the Mississippi steamers may be collected from those of the St. Louis, a, boat which was plying on that river in 1837. That vessel measured two hundred and fifty feet on deck, and had twenty-eight feet breadth of beam. Her draught of water was eight feet, and her measured capacity one thousand tons. She was prepared by two engines with thirty-inch cylinders, and ten feet stroke; the safety valve being loaded at one hundred pounds per square inch. The paddle wheels of these vessels are attached to the paddle shaft, in such a manner as to be thrown into and out of gear, at discretion, by the engineer, so that the paddle shaft may revolve without driving the wheels: by the expedient the power of the engine is used to feed the boilers while the vessel stops at the several stations. The vessel is therefore stopped, not, as is usually the case, by stopping the engines, but by throwing the wheels out of connection with the paddle shaft. The engines continue to work, but their
MISSISSIPPI STEAMERS 503
power is expended in forcing water into the boiler. By this expedient the activity of the engines may, within practical limits, be varied with the resistance the vessel has to encounter. In working against 4 strong current, the feed may be cut off from the boilers, and the production of steam, and consequently the power of the engines, thereby stimulated, while suspension of the feed may be compensated at the
next station. The stoppages to take in goods and passengers, and for relays of fuel, are frequent. 91 The liberty which they take with their vessels on these occasions," says Mr. Stevenson, 41 is somewhat amusing: I had a good example of this on board a large vessel, called the Ontario. She was steered close in shore amongst stones and stumps of trees, where she lay for some hours to take in goods: the additional weight increased her draught of water, and caused her to heel a good deal; and when her engines were put in motion, she actually crawled into the deep water on her paddle wheels: the steam had been got up to an enormous pressure to enable her to get off, and the volume of steam discharged from the escarpment pipe at every half stroke of the piston made a sound almost like the discharge of fire-arms, while every timber in the vessel seemed to tremble, and the whole structure actually groaned under the shocks." Besides the steamers used for the navigation of the Mississippi, innumerable steam tugs are constantly employed for towing vessels between the port of New Orleans and the open sea of the Gulf of Mexico. Before the invention of steam navigation, this southern capital of the United States laboured under the disadvantage of possessing almost the only bad and inconvenient harbour in the vast range of coast by which the country is bounded. New Orleans lies at a distance of about one hundred miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The force of the stream, the frequency of shoals, and the winding course of the channel rendered it scarcely possible for a sailing vessel to pass between the port and the sea with the same wind. The anchorage was every where bad, and great difficulty and risk attended the mooring of large vessels to the banks. The steam engine has, however, overcome all
THE STEAM ENGINE. 504
these difficulties, and rendered the most objectionable harbour of the Union a safe and good seaport, perfectly easy of approach and of egress at all times ; a small steam tug will take in tow several large ships and carry them with safety and expedition to the offing, where it will dismiss them on their voyage, and take back vessels which may have arrived.
