Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1852-10-06
THE CALORIC ENGINE.


one who likes to reveal himself to the world
by deeds, not WORDS the whole nation would
have been by this time on the tip.toe of expec-
tation with regard to the experiment in prepar-
alton under his superintendence If the caloric
engine shall prove all that is p redicted for it,
Capt. Ericsson has made a discovery more i'm
portant than any one which has startled the
world since the invention of the locomotive
We will just set down the claimed advantages
OF the caoric over the steam engine, and eve
ry reader will perceive the sweeping and stu
pendous nature Of the revolution in all materi-
al affairs which its success will gradually effect:
l. The calorc engine burns about One-tenth
as much fuel as steam engine-hence calo-
rlc ship OF the large size may circumnauigate
he glooe without stopping to take in coal; hence,
not sail VIII ever be seen on the ocean in fifty
years after the success of the new principle is
certain-hence machinery will be applied to
thousand arts which now require manual labor
hence, the possibility Of that long deserted
machine-plough hence the rapid coming
of that good time when arduous manual toll
will absolutely cease under the sun. 2. The
cast Of the ca loric engine is about the same
MS the steam engine, minus the coast Of the
boilers. 3. Only one-fourth as many engine
men will be required on board caloric ship as
are necessary for a steamer. 4. No smoke
Whatever will issue from caloric furnace when
anthracite is used and consequently no huge
unsightly smoke-pipe will be necessary, and the
rigging will be as clean as that of sailing ship.
5. There can be no bursting or collapsing of
boilers, for the simple reason that there will be
no boilers to burst. The worst accident that can
happen to caloric engine is for it to stop
norris watchfulness impartialy required, as in no
case can dangerous accident occur 6. Ow-
ing to the extreme simplicity of the calorc en-
gine, the wear and tear will be very slight, and
the duration on the engine proportionally long.
And the reader must bear in mind that these
are not merely the confident anticipations of an
ardent inventor. Two engines on the caloric
principle already exist, which work to admira-
ton, and which may be seen and inspected by
the curious, at the factory of Messrs Hogg
and Delamater, at the foot of Thirteenth-st. on
the North River. The working of one of these
was so satisfactory, that the acute and prudent
merchant, Jno. b. Kitching, together with few
friends, embarked three hundred thousand dol
lors in the construction of ship of 1000 tons
burthen, to test the new principle on scale of
such magnfcence as to command the attention
of the civilized world. That ship, which has
been wOrthy named the Ericsson, will be laun-
ched in a day or two, and is expected to make
her trial-trip about the first of November.
Ii the Ericsson proves q success, that trip
willjustly be regarded as the great event of the
year 1852. We have called the caloric a new
principle, but it is not. The Ericsson will be
propelled by the same force as that which .caus-
es the draught in warm room, hurricane in
the Tropics, breeze on summers day,
north-wester in winter, and every other move
rna of tha tbo
pheric air By heat. Capt. Ericssons caloric en-
gine will have inside oft a Gagged hurricane ar
tifcially produced,an perfectly under command.
The expanded air will work the piston Just as
steam does, with the following most important
difference When portion of steam has done
its work in imparting to the piston one move
ment, that portion escapes and cools-that is,
ceases to be steam-and new steam has to be
created to supply its place-hence the vast con-
sumption of fuel. But in the caoric engine it
is otherwise. The hot air, after having given
a stroke to the piston does not escape but is
caught and Gagged again, yielding back to the
reervoir all but about thirty degrees of its
heat out of the four hundred and eighty which
it had when it entered the cylinder-hence the
economy OF the calorc engine. The contri-
vance by which Capt. Ericsson effects this re-
capture of the used tempest is called the Re-
generator, and it is one of the most ingenious,
yet one of the most simple pieces of mechanism
in existence, 1t is made of wire net like that
of a sieve, and is composed of sufficient num-
Der of layers to form a thickness of several
inches. Into this, and through this, the hot air
passes as it leaves the engine, and in coming in
contact with such an immense surface of iron,
ii leares its heat behind IL, being instantaneously
robbed and cooled by its passage through the
wire regenerator. However, to be understood,
the engine must be seen-the above can hard
ly give the ghost of an idea of its nature 1t
only remains for US to state, that the ship lis
building at the yard of Messrs. Perrine, Patter-
son and Stack, in Williamsburgh, near the
ferry.house. As far as land
lubbers like ourselves can Judge, she is of strik-
ingly fine model and impregnable workmanship.
The ship is now all alive with men, carpenters,
painters and mechanists, busy in preparing her
for launching. We shall watch her father pro-
gress, and, above all, her final trial with great
interest.
A ScENE.-Dry goods stores are sometimes
the scenes of ludicrous conversations The
other day a young lady stepped into we'll
known establishment in town, and enqured of
a handsome clerk
"Sir, have you any mouse-colored ladies
gloves!"