Litchfield enquirer., 1841-10-28
THE MAMMOTH IRON STEAMER.

The first idea ofthose who hear OF an iron
ship is probably of something amazingly
strong. but SO heavy as TO be kept afioat with
difficulty, and liable to go down like n
stone as the sailors term it, the moment SHE
has the misfortune to spring a leak. Now
all this is pure imagination, and Il only re-
QuireS to inspect an iron vessel while under
the builders hands to have every prejudice
on the subject removed, and to ascertain that
SO far from being heavier and more liable to
sink, the weight Of an iron vessel built Of the
same degree of strength as one Of wood, the
external dimensions Of both bri' G equal, will
be something less than half of the latter, The,
proportion being, we believe, in an average,
about as seven to sixteen.
A strong wood. built vessel is estimated to
weigh at least sixteen hundred weight to
every register ton; the new iron ship build
ing at Bristol, about seven hundred weight,
or, in other words, surprising woodruff
vessel of the same size as the Great Western
COmpany'S new iron steamship and both TO
be loaded with the same weight of cargo, the
iron ship might take in fourteen hundred
tons of water by leakage before she would
come to the same bearing as the other.
Not only, however, is the iron ship superi.
or in lightness, but she is far less liab!e 10
spring leak at sea than woodruff YES
sci. There is scarcely plank in an ordi-
nary ship which is not forced into its place,
more or less, contrary to the position il
would maintain, if left to itself, and this is
particularly the case around the bows and
in the run of the vessel, where after being
softened and rendered plant by saturation
from steam, it often requires considerable
mechanical power to bring the planks to
what is technically called stheir BIRTH
Again, every plank, however firmly bolted
to the timbers within, is quite independent of,
and unconnected with, those above and be.
low it the consequence of which is, that
every wood built vessel has tendency TO
strain at sea, whenever, as it is often ncedful
to do, an unusual press Of canvass is carried
on her the masts in this case acting as a
powerful lever on the upper works, with
which they arc connected by the deck and
beams and the ballast or cargo below en-
deavoring to maintain its position by its riS
inertia, it becomes evident, that in proportion
rs the vessel heels over from the force of the
wind, SO much greater must be the strain on
her weather or upper side /; and this having
direct tendency to open the seams between
the planks, it is by no means uncommon for
vessels to leak under such circumstances,
which had previously shown no symptom of
complaining and oftentimes the fastening
works loose, trccnsils and bolts are partially
drawn, butts started, and the vessel becomes
unseaworthy, however new, until she has
again been overhauled by the shipwrights.
All old sailors are perfectly aware of this,
and arc never caught by storm on lee
shore. without keeping watchful BYE on the
pumps as well as on the sails but in the case
Of an iron built vessel it is entirely different
every separate sheet Of iron with which she
is closed in, is adapted to its particular situa-
fion frOno Vvlioh hac M fondonou IN
move itself, except that which il naturally
derives from gravitation>a and as every sheet
is OoItcu III tnf4 lirmest n;lnFer, into all those
which 1t adjoins, above, below, and lateral
". as we'll as to the iron obs, or frame, on
which they are laid, the vo<Sel may be con.
eidered almost as compact as cylinder;
ana we-ean,lId no more expect to find her
pect to sec the bilge plank of n wood built
vessel open through its centre under similar
circumstances. To supply the place of n
kelson, ten distinct rows Of plates are fixed to
run the whole length, fore and aft, to the
bottom, about two feet deep, md something
less than that apart, the whole being united
by q number of bands in the form ofthe lct-
ter U, the bottom of each of which is fasten.
ed into flooring iron, and the two plates be-
tween which it stands; thus, with superior
lightness, securing equal strength, and dis
tributing the support SO as to meet the strain
on the bottom whenever It occurs. i
10 insure the safety of tho vessel, and pre-.
vent her from being subject to wreck at sea,
from whatever cause, she will be divided into
separate apartments, each OF which will be
water-tight, and any two of them supporting
the entire weight Of the vessel with consid
cradle buoyancy, 50 that if she ran into an
iceberg, or were thrown upon rock, she
would not be liable to 60 down, or endanger
the lives Of the passengers, as long as one end
Of her remained unbroken. To this may be
added the power of her pumps. which will
be enabled, in case of any serious leak, to
throw off quantity of water exceeding 1000
gallons, or twenty. five tons per minute so
that leak which would in five minutes sink
a loaded ship of the size of three or four hun.
dredtons, would merely keep the pumps of
this steamer briskly at work, to prevent wa.
ter from gaining on her. In fact, when the
ship is fairly af1oat, with good canvass alofi
md the screw propeller below. she may be
pronounced to be the most safe and complete
nautical machine with which mankind were
ever yet acquainted Polytechnic Journal
A Philadelphia L0,oyer" in Snd,L-A
singular incident occurred at the Philadel-
phia Court of Sessions on Saturday. A man
named Maxwell, it seems, had been convict
ed for the larceny OF q promissory note, and
when brought up to receive sentence, the
Court told him that if he would give up the
note to the lawful owner, his sentences should
be mitigated from three years to six months.
The prisoner wcs willing to do so, but said
the note was in the hands of his counsel,
Danl Mclaughlin, Esq. Mr.. Mclaughlin
was then called upon. but he had concluded
10 hold on to the note to satisfy some de-
r,ands Of his own, and refused to give it up
The Indne then nrdered him 10 rive mil E.,r