The Sun.
London, England, 1817-07-17 00:00:00

SITAII BOATS.

RET'OR'T of the 'COMMITTrE of the 11.0175-E of OM-
MONS, appointed to consider of the meats bf prevt•ntiog
the iniichi,f of EXPLOSION front -happening on board
' STEAM BOATS.
Vour Committee entered on the task assigned
them with a strong feeling of the inexpediency
of legislative interference with the management
of private Concerns or property, farthan titan the
public safety should demand,. and more especially
with the exellionl of that mechunical skill and
ingenuity, in which the artists of this country are
so we-eminent, by which the kbour of man has
imetn greatly abridged, the mammtacttires of the
country raffled to an imnrivalled pet f!etion, and
its commerte extended tiver the whole world.
Among these, it is imt!pos,ible for a moment to
overlook the inirodnetionm ot Steam as a most
powerful agent, of alinost universal • application,
and of such utility, that but for its assistance, a
very large portion of the workmen employed in an
extensive mineral district of this kingdom, would
be deprived of their subsistence.
A reference to the evidence taken before yolr.
Committee, will also show with what advantage
this power has lately been applied, in Great Bri-
tain, to propel vessels both of burthen and passage,
how much more extensively it has been used in
America, and of what farther application it is cer-
tainly capable, it it may not be said to be even
now anticipated in Prospect.
Such considerations have rendered your.Com-
aiittee still More averse than when they entered
on the inquiry, to propose to the House the adop-
tion of any legislative measure, by which the
science and ingentlity of our artists might even
appearto be fettered or discouraged.
But they apprehend that a consideration of
what is due to public safety, has out several occa-
sions established the principle,
.that where that
safety may be endangered by ignorance, avarice
or inattention, against which individuals are un-
able, either from the want of knowledge, or of
the power to protect themselves, it becomes the
duty of Parliament to interpose.-
In illustration of this principle,• many instances
might be given ; the enactments respecting party-
walls in building, the qualification of physicians,
pilots, &c. the regulations respecting stage coaches,'
&c: seem all to he grounded upon it. And your
Committee are of opinion, that its operation may,
with at least equal propriety, be extended to the
present case, on account of the disastrous conse-
quences likely to ensue from the explosion of the
boiler of a-Steam Engine iwa passage vessel, anti
that time causes by which such accidents have ge-
nerally been produced, have neither been disco-
verable by the:skill nor controulable -by-the power
of the passeniers, even where they •have been
open to observation.
your Committee finch it, to he the universal opi,
nion of all personi conversant in such subjects,
that Steam I..;ngincs of some construction may be
applied with, pertect 'security, even •to passage
vessels ; and they generally agree, though with
some exceptions, that those called High Pressure
Engines, ntuy: be safely used With :the precaution
id well constructed bailers, and properly adapted
S4foY7v.ttiv.es; 'and further, a great majority Of
opinions Jetta. to boilers of wrought iron or
lit prefercnFoto cast iron. • .
your Committee therefore, in consequence,
have comae to Abe followitmg Resolutions ; which
they propose to the. •considef at ion of the :
• -1. riesolvedy- That it appears to this Com-
mittee, from the evidence of several experienced
Engineers, examined bt*••re them, that the ex-
, plosion. in the Steam Packet at Norwich, was
caused not only by the imProper construction and•
materials of the boiler, but the safety valve con-
' meted with it having -been overloaded ; by which
the expansive force of the steam was raised to a
degree of pressure beyond that which the boiler
was calculated to sustain.
2. Resolved,,That it hppears to this Committee,
that in the instances of similar explosions, in
Steam Packets, manufactories, and other works
where steam engines were employed, these acci-
dents were attributable to one or other of the
causes above alluded to,
3. Resolved, That it is• the opinion of this
Committee, that, furthe prevention of'sneh acci-
dents in future, the means are simple and easy,
•and not likely to 'be attended with any inconve-
niences to the proprietors of• Steam Packets, nor
with any-such additional .eXpence as can either be
injurious to time owner's, or tend to prevent the in-
crease of such establishments. The means which
your Committee:would recommend are comprised
in the•follOwing Regulations.
[These• Regulations • we' gave in THE SUN of
yesterday.) ••
4. Resolved, That the Chairman be directed to
move the House, that leave be given to brio; in
a Bill for enforcing such Regulations as may be
necessary• for the better management of Steam
Packets, and for the security of his Majesty's
subjects, who may be. passengers therein,'

IVe shall, from time to time, give some irate-
vesting extracts ft on) the Evidence on this Subject
given before Parliament.7-rhe following Testi-
motty'st area some leading facts : •

Mr. TIMOTHY BRAMAN called in, and examined.

You are an. engineer at Pimlico 1771 am.
You were one of the pentlemen that went to
Norwich to inquire into the explosion of the Stettin-
boat I was. .
Did yoo.go at the request of any party, or of
yonr ovyn voluntary suggestion ?—I went in eon!.
sequence of my friends, Mr. Coilinge and Mr.
Dunkin, calling. upon. tie tq ask my opinion,
wi~etl~rr it would be right for us to inttrigre ethtmtt
§qch ate occasion/ I concurred with them 014 4
would, and, volunteered to'gq.
yPOf design was to inquire into the cares of
the exPksiPli ?—Yes, anti to examine as inuell of
the wreck as we could tind.
State to the , Committee to what you attribute
the accident /—The observations I made led me
to determine it was owing to the expansive force
or_the steatn, and the inadequacy of the boiler to
Sustain that force.
Was it a high pressure or a low pressure engine)

. . .
—A high prinSnre engine: the boiler Was batlii
c.onStrnetefl and shaped.
Of what materials was the boiler composed
Of Wrought and cast iron; and it was the cast
ir6oiait that gave way.
ThOse hvo materials expand -in a different pro-
po'ran with the .same degree of heat )—Yes, they
do. •

Is tt itOtal to hare th,e boiler of wrought and
cast lion ?-•-!, should think it would be avoided on
all occasion's biexperienced engineers ; but I have

often seen ir,

This enginb was not made so at first, hut al-
tered afterwards ; was it • not )—Yrs, in conse-
quence of the -other giving way.
Have you :iny reason to suppose that the acci-
dent might be attributed to negligence or inkina-
nagcnient in the director of it ?—We had verbal
testimony, from which I had no donht the steam
was at a considerable.degree of pressure ; but the
end was very improperly ii
Did you ever learn at *hat rate the man was
working ?—No ; 1 understobd he was working•at
60Ib. an inch, generally ; probably it might be 120
at that moment ; but I should think it not equal to
the working of 60, for it was only three-fourths
of an inch and a sixteenth in some plates in thick-
ness, and it was four feet in. diameter at the end ;
it was a flat endma the cylinder like a d.um.
Is it possible to construct the engines it steam-
boats in such a manner that there is great impro-
bability of any accident happening ?—I do not know
how to answer as to their being perfectly safe ; I
do not feel that materials, when they are submitted
to so great a pressure, are safe, for we find that very
few materials will stand a great degree of.pressure
for any length of time ; we often find thattt water-
press, which has been efficient six or seven years
together, at length gives way, when the, metals
are subjected to a very great pressure : it is like a
blow with a heavy machine. fur breaking. metals,
which does riot break the first tine, out is con-
stantly tending to loosen the particles:
Do you think that a high pressure engine, tin-
der any guard that can be applied to it, i-s a safe
engine to use in M steam-boat )—I do not con-
ceive it is a proper engine or a safe one.

Did you ever hear of their having been used
whb wrought iron boilers with perfect safety ?
No, I have tint heard of any comparative state.
meta of either the wrought or cast ; I know they
ore usually made with Cast. .
Do you consider yourself sufficiently an engi-
neer, with respect-to the construction of steam
engines, to he able to give of your own know-
ledge a decided answer to such questions ?—Ye.s,
Ido conceive so ; I have paid a great deal-of at-
tention to the subject of steam,engines, and I be-
lieve 1 know the principle of every one in existence
1f,.0n a Certain pressure in a high pressure en,
give, a safety-vake'or.- safety-valves were so con:
structed, as that they would open and discharge
the steam nith aprcssure much less than the boiler
was calculated fur, would nut such a boilet be per-
fectly safe, adt»itt log it to be made of roper ma-
terials and properly constructed ?—Yes, it it could
be proved tio the boiler was calculated to resist a
pressure greater than that to which it 'a as
to be subjected in the ordinary vvay of bo,ines4;
and that proper safety, vid ves we.!-a !,ipplid,it %you'd
be safe as tong Ns the action of thoe•satety-valves
were ensured, and so long as the perfection of the
!twat could he upheld.
It a boiler was found to sustain the pressure of
100th. to a square inch, and,such boiler hart been
tried, and it was found, before used, that it-would
bear a pres3ore of :4001b. upon the inch, would
not such a boiler be perfectly sate to be used, it
the safety-valve was so constructed as to open it.
self at the pressore of GO cannot pronounce
it perfectly safe, and I must give this reason-1
think, if a boiler xvas prepared to sustain 100th.
and strained to 200, it might afterwards perhapS
burst at 40, the straining having injured it.
In the situation of steam-bons might not the
imskiifuluess of the sort of persons who manage
then] retitle: any steam-boat unsafe ?---1 do not
know how that could be the case ; they tni..frt by
wilful perversion of the proper principle of nia•
nagewent render them unsafe to a comparative
extent ; for instance, if there was half the pres-
sure, there would be but half the danger under
like circumstances.

110 you or not apprehend, that boiler upon a
proper construction, of wrought metal, may be
tried with a certain fOree, so small in comparison
with that pressure which it is intendvd to bear, us
not to incur anY risk of being injured in the proof,
and have a complete surplus of strength, so as- to
enable it to be afterwards used without any danger
in the use ?-1. shoold pronounce such a boiler to
be perfectly safe, and so long as it maintained those
properties it would continue so.
• Have you considered how safety-valves may be
constructed;, as adapted to boilers, so as to put it
out of the power of the- person hiving the ma-
nagement of them, improperly to load them, or to
alter their nature ?-7---The most simple mode Which
has suggested itself tO me isi to havee-a double
safety-valve, anti to loCk one up,' and to have it'
examined once a week, or as Often as may be ne-
cessary, to see that its action is perfect.
It there were those twoisafety-valves, one tinder
the managemeat Of C.,e person who bAd the direc—
tinn of the:boat, and the other safety-valve °lnter
such guard that he could not prevent its iiCtion ;
such a boiler would, in vour opinion, be safe ?
That would be more safe than any I
have ever seen.
Have you ever witnessed the.d4Ctent cfreeis'„f
the explosion in cast and wronght iron br>fleil
No ; I have seen wrought iron vessels Gjat. have
been bnrst--7torn out, as it were.. '
Did you never see a cast iron ve”el burst ?-77.
Yes, many; the wrougldiroo generally. tears and
opens out, to admit of the fluid escaping; it
Fenerally, the fluid which does the misebi4 s'i!ett
the wrought iron is used, tend it is both the
and the material which does Ole mischief when
the cast iron bursts the. effect in castmetal is,
to early the:pieces of the metal to a I.:onsider4i,
distance, which is seldom the case in the wrought,
unless Where there is any cold shit in tllc metal ;
the cast bursts like a shell, projeciiitg the paieieles
of the metal to a considerable distance.
If an accident of that nature hlppna to,
wrought iron boiler, the misebiel %ypilld probably
he confined to the room in •%aid) the boiler was
placed ?—No, I do not cOnceive that to be the
case it 1 have uo doubt, if *iiiititt beeti a ‘irmy.ht

itoti hoiler ;it tti* e' Se, fCc.: iLe reisri
wolild noire heat blown off; the prris,ire wttniti
!lave been in all i,ll(es : Dolt here it wiis only
iu ti lateral. (?inctiol), 6:10 flue end of. the boiler
was blow') intro ilte riVt'r, and by its the
hOiler Wi (1.1rO'll:n into tite liver ot) the oilier

ymi hare sad f t von Lave frequently
‘vrought iron ve3sels btirst ?—Not frequently in oni•
wen experience; I have seen coiyer frequently tilflt
lea., burst.

Have tiny fatal o 1 devious mcciffents inwitened
on those Occasions hive heard of some,
have not witnessed one ; t.he accidents 'have M -
set ved have ciiictiv arisen where cast-iron boncts
were used. :

In the first instance, when wronglit-iron boilets
are aced, the irjory is sustained by indi% iduals, by
the fluid e'seaping
Where cast-iron boilers have been used, it has
been by the explosion of the
.metal ?—Yes; I dry
not mean to say it may not be by the explosion
of wrought-iron boilers ; it is very difficult 'to ob-
tain a boiler of perfect metal ; and if there are any
cold shuts or other defects in it, it may explode
in the same way.

Is copper suhjeet to the same evils ?—No; I
think it is generally in a purer state ; iron is very
impure at the best.