Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-09-17
FESTIVAL AT YORK TOWN

| FESTIVAL AT YORK TOWN.
10 the Editors of the Norfolk Beacon:
have witnessed with much delight, Through
the medium OF your Paper) the liberal, and patri-
otic tender of personal labour, by the mechanics
| OF Petersburg, for preparing accommodations
at York Town, for the people who NAV Assem-.
BILE there, on the 9th of the ensuing month"; tLis
olfer IS honorable to those who have made il: ;s
worthy OF the occasion; and more valuable than
pecuniary contribution, because of absolute mo-
cessity. You, sirs, who are acquainted with
The village of York, know, SO small is il, that
were every room of every house in the town va
Gated by the present population, they would be
insufficient to shelter one twentieth part of tbc
people who may be expected. What then is 10
be done The military, if possible, must bring
, their tents With them; and temporary tlwelliurs
must be erected. Much is to be done, and The
tune short in which it is TO be done.-GeneraI
Fayette having accepted the invitation of the
Governor and the military corps of the State. he
becomes their Guest, or rather the Guest of the
State; the plan for his accommodation. and ar
engagements for the conduct Of the festival. rest
with them and we believe with confidence, that
the expectations of the people will not be disap-
pointed, nor the character of the state compro.
muted.-.an advance from the treasury seems
necessary; the Legislature will doubtless sancti-
On the expenditure; which will not take even
one cent. from the pocket Of each individual Gill
zen ofthe state.--What puginian is there, who
upon such an occasion, if personally appealed to,
out would Joyiuiiy contribute if necessary an
hundred fold for such purpose' What Pr
gini1n is there, who would not contemn himself
cov'd he be induced to believe he could, even
Tor moment. hesitate to contribute, 4ad
shah the Executive hesitate, to advance from
the funds of the State, the pittance (co,npara-
lively speaking) which will be requireds At this
period of the year, an important and a busy
one, to farmers, the labour and materials could
not be had at York:-The generous offer of the
mechanics OF Petersburg removes the first diff
Guilty; and materials may be procured cheaper
and more expeditiously from Norfolk and Bali,
more, than could be furnished by the country
adjacent to York. have heen led to these re-
marks by not get knowing that any committees
are formed, any plans digested OF arrangements
commencing. The day and the General are
both approaching; and the arrangements, which
will be necessary, to make the festival worthy
OF theevent, 1t is intended to commemorate, and
of the Hero who will be the chief persouapt, in
the scene, cannot be the work of day or
week, for even with the vi. ,st activity and
zeal, the committee of general arrangements
VIII lind, (when they commence their dutes)
themselves pressed for tirne.--.4 great Military
Chief has been invited. 10 Military festival
held in commemoration of one of the most bril-
liant events recorded in orr military annals He
will again visit the spot where forty three years
ago, he added fresh Iaurels to those, that then
.bloomed around his brow; how exquisite will
be his emotions! how many tender recollections
will rush upon his mind! how sublime the scene,
fitted only for the contemplation of Freemen
Let the festival then be worthy of the day,
and OF the Peteran who will adofn it by his pre-
sence
Experiments on Sieam.--The follow ing arti-
Gle is copied from the July number of the Lon
don Journal of Arts and Sciences
From experiments on steam lately performed
by Mr.. Perkins, it has been discovered that ex-
blossoms do sometimes take place by the decom-
position of water. MIR. p. is of opinion, that ma
ny ofthe fatal accidents which have taken place
in io'o as we'll as high pressure boilers have been
produced by an explosion of gas, & not by steam,
pressure. Mr.. p. feels himself borne out in
this conclusion from certain facts which we will
now state. Ii has been before noticed that Mr..
Perkins method of generating steam, is BY heat
ing his water in a coiled tube under pressure,
and afterwards forcing If into a very strong iron
tube, which he calls the receiver, where il
flashes into steam. The valve that confines the
water IN his generating tube, is loaded with a
much heavier weight than The valve which con
fines the steam in the receiver. Now, if the
feed pump be stopped, the water in the coIed
tube will also cease from supplying the receiver
the steam, at the same time, escaping from un.
der its loaded valve. When the steam gets so
weak in the receiver by its diminished density,
uoi 10 raise tiie wave, the remainder Will
soon form an explosive gas, which will, when the
ignition takes place, rend the receiver, although
the safety valve is only loaded at i0O0lbs at the
same time it would withstand steam pressure
OF 3O,QOOlbs upon every square inch.
This kind of explosion is too instantaneous to
be relieved by safety vatve. Several of these
| accidents have taken place in MIR. P's. fIrna-
ccs without the smallest injury, excepting that
of spelling the tube. The fac: is, that Mr. P's
vessels are so extremely strong, and tue guam
tty of gas so very small, that the elastic power
is exhausted in producing the fracture. The
gas explosions never took place while The en-
CINE was at work, they happened while expert
meDtng with the stcau-gun, in consequence of
the frequent stopping Of tue feed pump, aud the
receiver consequently became red hot from wan
ting its regular supply Of hot water.
In note from Mr.. Perkins just received,
we have the following remark; ''Wbcn first
/ heard Of the accident on board the Elna, felt
persuaded, that it was not the effect of steam
| pressure that had produced the explosion, as
am well acquainted with the boilers IN tl,at YES
| sci. I once had the satisfaction of Witnessing
the effects Of an explosion by steam on board the
| Etua, on her passage down the Delaware, which
| was only known 20 the passengers, by the pro-
gress Of the engines being stopped"
| Wecaunot help again congratuating the pub
| lie on the perfect safety of Mr.. Perkins method
! Of generating stesm which from the above state
rnents, appear 70 be decisvely satisfactory. whe-
| Their fracture in the vessels shall beoccasioned