The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-05 00:00:00

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVEN—
TION OF STEAM BOILER EXPLOSIONS.
At the last monthly meeting of the executive committee'
of this association, held on Tuesday, Mr. Hugh Masiin, of
Ashton-under-Lyne, vice-president, in the chair, Mr. L. E.
Fletcher, chief engineer, presented his monthly report, of
which the following is an abstract :—" During the last
month there have been examined 363 engines and 563
boilers. Of the latter 10 have been examined specially, 8
internally, 87 thoroughly, and 458 externally ; in which the
following defects have been found :—Fracture, 14 (3 dan-
gerous) ; corrosion 47 (5 dangerous) ; safety valves out of
order, 18 (1 dangerous) ; water gauges ditto, 8 ; pressure
gauges ditto, 8; blow-off cocks ditto, 33; fusible plugs
ditto, 4 ; furnaces out of shape, 6 (3 dangerous); total,
138 (12 dangerous). Boilers without glass water gauges,
5 ; without pressure gauges, 22 ; without blow-off cocks,
15 ; without back pressure valves, 42. No explosion has
occurred during the last month to any boiler under the
inspection of this association. Four explosions, however,
which have happened in other quarters have come to my
knowledge, from three of which loss of life has resulted;
one being on the most disastrously fatal character, no less-
than 27 persons being killed. The latter of these explo-
sions occurred at an iron works to a vertical boiler, heated
by the flames from four iron furnaces. '1 hest flames first
played upon the lower part of the outside of the boiler, and
then passed through four openings in the side into an in-
ternal descending flue in the centre, and thence to the
chimney. The boiler was cylindrical and egg-ended, and
precisely similar in general arrangements to that first de-
scribed in last month's report, being technically termed an.
upright furnace boiler. Its height bad been about 27 feet
and its diameter 10 feet, while the thickness of the plates
had varied in the original construction from five sixteenths
to seven sixteenths. Its ago was about nine years ; and ite
working pressure, although stated by the engine attendant
to have been 351 b, was concluded, from an examination of
the safety valves, &e. on an official inquiry at the instance
of the Coroner, to have been not less than 501 b. There
are grave objections to the construction of this boiler, as
well as to the mode in which it was set. The intense flames
from the furnaces by which it was heated impinged most
severely upon the lower par of the external shell ; the
diamater of which, being no less than ten feet, wary
of unusual size, while, in addition, the water was sedimen-
tary. The combination of a high tensile strain upon the
plate, which a larger diameter—such as that in the present
instance--involves, with an intense flame locally applied,
added to till aueuiuulativa of deposit, is always dangerous,
on account of liability to injury from overheating of the
plates, and more especially of the seams of rivets. Added to.,
this, from the fact of the flame operating upon the bottom
of a. water space, the circulation of the water was necesi-arily
incomplete ; and thus the risk increased of the rapid gene-
ration of the steam driving the water away from the plates.
Many instances have :occurred of plates being seriously
over-heated from this cause, even when the boiler contained
a plentiful supply of water. It may be added that the boiler
had been found so leaky a few weeks before the explosion,
that a dose of bran had been resorted to, in order to stop
it. Bran, while it stops the leaks, thickens the water, and
prevents the globules of steam escaping freely, and thus
would be most dangerous in a boiler already predisposed,
as this one was by its construction and local impinge-
ment of the flame, to have the water driven away from
the plates. I consider the dangerous construction and set-
ting of the boiler quite sufficient to account for the explo-
sion. After the two most serious explosions that have
lately occurred, within a few weeks of one another, in tho
iron districts, to boilers of this description, and each at-
tended with such fatal consequences, it will certainly be
most reprehensible if another day is allowed to pass without
having all similar boilers carefully examined, and their
safety ascertained. Another life has been lost during the
past month through the rupture of a Cornish boiler, which
did not, however, result in explosion. The flat end plate
had been allowed to groove at the furnace crown without
repair, until it at last penetrated the entire thickness of the
plate, when a rupture occurred, from which scalding, ter-
minating fatally, ensued. The boiler, however, is reported
not to have moved from its seat, which I have found to be
the case under similar circumstances. The great differenc o
between the result of a rent in a flat plate as above, and
when occurring in a cylindrical shell, as in the previous in-
stance, will be at once seen. I have always found that
those explosions, which have resulted in the most serious
consequences, have been caused by rupture of the cylindri-
cal portion of the shell, and hence its condition is a matter
of the greatest importance; and, it appears to me, therefore,
desirable that it should be exempted from the injurious
action of the fire to which boilers externally are exposed."

COUNTRY MARKLYS.

~J.

LEICESTER—MAY 3.
An average supply of wheat to-day at market, and 1s
decline in price. White, 62s to 665; red, 60s to 63s ;
old red, 52s to 57s per 36 stone. Barley was in short sup-
ply—grinding, 30s to 325; malting, 34s to 38s per qr.;
oats, 24s to 28s per 24 stone. Beans were a ready sale—
new, 36s to 38s ; old, 42s t• 45s per 38 stone.
Fine flour, 46s I Seconds, 43s I Thirds, 41s. per sack.

NOTTINGHAM—MAY 3.
At this Corn Exchange to-day there was a fair show of
wheat on offer for the time of tbo year, the condition of
which was tolerable. Trade dull at is under former rates.
—White, from 61s to 66s ; red, 42s to 635. Barley was
in small show, with a fair trade, and prices fully as high
—malting, 37s to 42s ; grinding, 29s to 31s. Oats were
steady at 30s to 355, old ; 24s to 28s new. Beans were sold
at 39s to 50s per qr, Flour, 40s to 435.

NORTHAMPTON—MAY 3.
A limited supply of wheat to-day, and the trade was ra•
ther dull, but prices were easier than last week. Wheat,
old, 57s to 60s, and 60s to 62s for superior lots. A good
demand for barley, supply short—malting sorts 37s to 425,
grinding 30s to 3s per qr. Oats quoted at 22s to 29s
per 24 stone. Bea2ns, old, 34s to 40s ; peas, 36s to 445.