The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1838-06-13

tants OF the PROVINCES.
He says he shall appeal to the Govern !
ment of the United States to vindica.e its
own honor by avenging these insults to
their authority.
The following article will interest many of
our readers, who viii recognize in the descrip-
iion of a steam engine which it contains, the
principle so persevereingly but unsuccessfully
experimental upon by our late fellow citizen,
Mr.. John Babcock. This principle it now
appears will produce important and desirable
results.
TFrom the Liverpool (Eng.) Mercury.
STEAMSHIP COLUMBUS.
This beautiful vessel made several trips
IN the Mersey on Tuesday, with a party on
board, who had been invited to view her ex-
traordinary engines at work, and who ex-
pressed themselves highly graihed with her
performance. She had previously made
voyage TO Dublin, having accomplished the
distance in seventeen hours aud half, the
weather being ratber bosterous, and return
ed in fifteen hours aud half, the weather
being more moderate, but wind ahead thus
proving her speed equal to ten miles an
hour. the distance being ore hundrd and IF
ty statute miles, although at starting she had
20 days fuel ON board.--We should also
observe that, being expressly constructed
for long voyages, her power. compared to
her tonnage, is considerably less than that
of our more powerful boats employed on
short passages, therefore her speed cannot
be expected to be so great Her dimensions
are l45 feet keel, 81 l-2 beam, being $50
ton measurement, aud ITO horse power.
She has accommodations for 25 main cab
in passengers and 30 second class.
The engines, whicl, present great novel
" and ingenuity, are the invention of Mr..
Thomas Howard, Of London, who has OBJ
tanned patent for them. The points in
which they differ from common engines are
in the modes of generating the stean, and
in condensing it. The surface of the gea-
orator, (termed "vaporizer" by the inventor)
exposed to the fire. is plain plate of iron
ten feet long, four aud half feet wide, and
and three-eights of an inch thick. At a
distance of three inches above this plate is
another so formed as to present a surface
four times as much as the lower one, and a
perfectly tight joint is formed between then,
by means of an iron ring placed between
the two plates, SO that it is impossible for
the mercury or amalgam, which completely
fills the space between the plates, tn escape
except into n vessel connected with them.
TO allow it 10 expand into when heated a
dome then covers the vessel in which the a
malgam is, to contain the steam; so thai
the vaporizer has the appearance Of smal
semi-cy ylindrical boiler. The fire is sup
piled with air from n blowing machine
worked 10y the engine, and its intensity i,
regulated by valve, SO as 10 maintain tn.
heat of the umalgam at about 400 degrees
or about $50 degrees under its boiLg point
The heat from the fire, after duly acting or
the lower plate of the generator, passe.
through flues which surround the dome OF
steam cnsc, before entering the chimney
and this way il inparts its redundant hea
TO the steam, and raises its temperature tr
about 400 degrees, whilst the pressure doe.
not exceed ten pounds per square inch n.
bove the atmosphere. The object sough
by this arrangement is tie rnpid conversion
of water into steam of great rarity, vt ten
pcrature which is found to be capable o
producing the greatest quantity of steam or
the smallest surface the heat, which i
produced from fuel OF strong and lastin,
nature, being absorbed Immediately from
the fire. Ii is generally supposed, indeed
we have heard it asserted, that the anna gun
aud beat have an injurious effect upon lh
iron plates--but to prove the contrary, W,
were shown on board The Columbus plat
which had been in use on board the Vesta
vessel belonging to Mr.. Howard, whic
has been plying on the Thames for the las
two years, and gone altogether distance
of about 5000 miles, and the plate is n
sound as when first put on.
When the amalgam has been heated t,
about 400 degrees, small quantity of wat
er, previously heated to near the boillui
point, is injected upon the plate which GOV
ers it, by means Of pump attached to th'
engine, which supplies itself from the no
well, and this water on coming in contac
with the plate, Is Immediately converted in
TO steam, which then passes into the cylin
der and works the piston as usual, tn
valves being so arranged as to cause tn
steam to act expansively. The steam i
then condensed by injection, as usual; bu
in place Of the injection water being sal
rafer, admitted from the outside OF the shi
it is pure pate,, taken from the hot well
which has been filled with it previous Z
starting the engine. The air.pump (whc
is smaller than usual; in consequence G
their being less air TO Withdraw than in com
mon engines,) pumps the condensed stear
and injection water from the bottom Of tn
condenser into the hot well, from whence
is made to pass slowly through a aumber c
tubes placed in a cistern continually sup
piled with cold water, by which means il
reduced TO the same temperature, and whc
SO cooed is re-injec,ed amidst the steam e