The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-09 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL
STANDARD'.

SIR,—In consequence of several misstatements which have
been propagated respecting the paragraphs which appeared
in the Chronicle and Journal of Saturday last, concerning the
three females who appeared before Mr. Rushton on suspicion
of taking boots from my premises, I beg leave, through the
medium of your paper, to correct the same. The females
are not sisters, as stated in the Chronicle; and the reason
why I wished the two eldest to appear was, because they all
three had resided at my house, and the eldest was still living
with me. I distinctly told the magistrates that I did not in
the least suspect the two eldest, viz., Jessie Potts and Maria
Linaere ; it was only the youngest I suspected, and if she
has taken anything from Inv shop, I firmly believe her 'po-
ther has not had the least knowledge of it. lam sorry the
two eldest should have been in any way implicated, or any
i
slur thrown on their character, by appearing n the public
Papers, as I am perfectly convinced they are both innocent.
By your inserting this in your widely-circulated paper,
you will much oblige yours, respectfully,
75, London-road. WILLIAM DUTTON.

EXTRAORDINARY EAVE.—Mr. William Noble, of the
Scaws, near Penrith, a farmer of the Earl of Lonsdale, has
a black-faced ewe which, during the last eight years, has
produced the most extraordinary number of twenty lambs,
all of which have lived and done well. She yeaned in each
of the first four successive years three lambs, and two in each
of the four last years. Mr. Noble bought the ewe of Mr.
Clark, of Shap Abbey.—Carlisle Patriot.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

ARRIVAL OF THE " ARCHIMEDES " AT LIVERPOOL, AND

EXPERIMENTAL TRIAL OF HER POWERS

It has long been acknowledged by men who are conversant
with mechanical principles, that the common paddle-wheel
or rather water-mill wheel which has hitherto been the in-
strument of propulsion for our steam vessels whether in
rivers or on the ocean, is beset with certain disadvantages,
which, however the principle might be modified, presented
great if not insurmouptable obstacles, either to increased
speed beyond a limited rate of velocity ; or •material reduc-
tion in the power, weight, and size of the engine, consumption
of fuel required ; or, consequently, of increased capacity for
stowage without ',teat additional cost, and a vast increase
of tonnage.

The principal disadvantages alluded to we need but briefly
to notice. The principle of the paddle-wheel is obviously
imperfect as a mode of ship propulsion. If the wheel be
proportionately small, its operation is principally to tear up
or scratch the water : if large, this defect is partially reme-
died, but far from wholly. The fact is, the first operation of
a revolving paddle-wheel is, to a certain extent, to smash
down the water, and its last operation is, to a certain (and a
greater) extent, to lift the water—elevating a sort of fountain
or cascade abaft the paddle-box, all of which involves an ex-
penditure of steam power to a considerable extent, without
propelling the vessel. The increasing of the size of the wheel,
so that at length a small but wide portion or segment of the
periphery comes in contact with the water, diminishes this
disadvantage, but atthe expense of additional leverage against
the engine—that leverage to be overcome being half the dia-
meter, or the distance from the paddle-shaft to the floats or
paddle-bands. There is nothing therefore, for it, but sheer
tearing force of steam.

Various modifications of the paddle-wheel have been pro-
duced—some with paddle-boards so contrived that they
dipped perpendicularly into the water, and so rose out of it ;
others with the boards placed obliquely, and others placed
or worked in various ingenious ways, to remedy one or other
of the defects already alluded to. These, however, from
their complicated structure, and liability to derangement and
breakage, have generally been abandoned ; though we must
notice the dividing of the original " one" paddle-board into
two or three like steps, with interstices between, as a de-
cided improvement, in the freeing of the wheel from water, the
plan of our townsman, Mr. Shaw, of the Dublin Steam-packet
Company, a gentleman of much experience in ocean steam-
navigation.

Another objection to the paddle-wheel is its weight and
unwieldy bulk, rising over the upperworks of a vessel, and
presenting a rather unseemly hump, like that of the drome-
dary. True, this has in modern large vessels been much re-
duced ; but it is still a top weight—still does the paddle-box
present a large surface to a beam wind, without the possi-
bility of " taking in a reef"—and still is a vessel, with such an
incumbrance, liable so to roll about, or to be thrown so far
on one side, that one of the wheels may he thrown for a time
out of the water.- to the detriment of the engine and its
working.
Another, and the final objection to the paddle, is, that
the vessels so propelled cannot carry sail to any extent,
without an equal derangement of their lateral equilibrium,—
in other words, they must be worked so, that the wheels
must, as far as possible, have an equal hold of the water on
each side,—which cannot be maintained with a lateral pres-
sure of sail. Great, indeed wonderful, improvements have
been made in marine engines ; and steam navigation has,
consequently, gone on increasing and extending its ramifica-
tions and beneficial effects to the remotest quarters of the
globe. All that we contend is, that there was room for
improvement, of indeed entire novelty, in the " mode of pro-
pulsion," and that therefore every new and ingenious appli-
cation of a known mechanical agent, or instrument, or
invention of a new one, that may produce increase of speed,
with economy in fuel, and consequent saving of stowage,
should be fostered by an intelligent public, without any
feebly; of jealousy, as an accession of maritime and com-
mercial power; an additional means of natural wealth, and
natural protection : and greater than all, as a means of
approximating country to country, and disseminating the
blessings of civilization, religion, and good-will amongst the
great family of mankind.
These remarks have been suggested by the arrival at our
port, since our last publication, of the Archimedes, steam-
yacht, and the pleasure we yesterday experienced in witness-
ing her performance on our river. It would be presumption
in us to assume, from her success hitherto, that her mode of
propulsion is so far superior to that now in use, that it must
be generally adopted. We will not go so far until further
experiments, and, doubtless, further improvements in that
mode have become developed. We are bound, however, to
state, that so far the superiority of this novel application
ap-
peared to many practical nautical gentlemen, and others
versed in steam navigation, to be altogether decisive. There
can be no doubt of its superiority, if once fully brought out
with those improvements which practical experience will
suggest; and even now, as will be found in the sequel, the
Archimedes has outrun several crack steamers in our river,
and has, moreover, shewn that she is a fast sailer under can-
vas, and independently of steam. But we must permit our
readers to judge for themselves.

THE ARCHUIEDES.

The application of the " Archirnedean screw" for the pro-
pulsion of vessels, was first tried by Mr. Francis P. Smith,
the present patentee, about four years ago, on a boat 32 ft. in
length, and about six tons burthen. The screw was worked
by a two-horse engine, and such was the success of the first
experiment on this small scale, that the present vessel was
finally projected and completed—Mr. Smith, an intelligent
poung man, having, by that perseverance which is peculiar
to genius, overcome numerous obstacles, opposed by preju-
dice and opinion, and by constant devotion to his object and
a great outlay of capital, achieved what may assuredly be es-
teemed a triumph of modern science.
The Archimedesis rigged as a smart three-masted schooner,
with her masts raking. She is of a beautiful model, and
having no paddle-boxes, she has the appearance of a pleasure
yacht, the flue being comparatively slender. The following
are her dimensions.—

Length over all
between perpendiculars
Extreme breadth
Depth of hold
Draft of water (average)
Capacity
Power of engines

125 feet
107
264

10
240 tons.
89 horse.

The mode of propulsion is by, it might be said, a portion
only of the Archimedean screw. When the vessel was first
tried, a full turn of that species of screw (like a patent cork-
screw, on a central straight spindle) was employed. The in-
ventor afterwards, for the sake ofcompactness, introduced the
doubar th reacted ewer or hair - •cm o co eau z,-.._

applicable to this vessel, although he rather prefers the other.
This is of iron, and is fixed in the run of the vessel, in the
dead wood in front of the stern post, andiworks transversely
with the keel, radiating the water in every direction. The
diameter of the screw, (which is on the principle of the skull,)
is 5 feet 9 inches, and its length 5 feet. It would almost ap-
pear impossible, that so small a portion of machinery could
propel a vessel of such length, but the hold it takes of the
water, and the velocity with which it turns gives its great
advantages. It is quite under the surface, and is therefore
invisible by spectators either on board or on shore. It is
worked by a spindle, forming its axle, running fore and aft,
and its velocity is acquired by spur wheels and pinions. Each
revolution of the larger wheel, turned by the cranks of the
engines, gives, by the multiplied power, five and one-third
revolutions of the screw. The hole or aperture required for
the screw is square, and the operation of the propeller does
not appear to interfere with the steering, which is managed
with the facility of a small boat. The shafts of the engine
work, fire and aft,—the cranks working transversely, so as
to communicate the power directly by cog wheels to the
screw. The larger wheel is toothed or coggedswith horn
beam (timber.) The engines are compact, but of short
stroke, and not, we think, equal to what we could accomplish
in our "good old town," if we were "put to the screw!! Th•
whole aparatus, indeed, is necessarily as a new application
capable of improvement, which will gain both compactness
and speed, and are already obvious to the inventor and his
friends,—though even now the " Archimides " is a crack
steamer. The vessel has given origin to " the Ship Pro-
peller Company."