Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-01-19
The CaIorIc Ship Ericsson.

- vi TIC PioHeSI sup Ill Tic Cdr'rlC line, VIII
t, minute description OF all her internal ar
' rangements. "All the New York journals,
9 says the Washington Republic, "unite il
;, representing her success as completely tri
: umphant. We may now say that Capt
y Ericsson has realized the hope of his IF;
ana reached the goal of his ambition. tt
: invent a substitute for the steam engine
that should operate upon less enortnoli
consumption Of fuel. and less Wholesale
destruction of human beings, has been the
great object of his life. To this object he
has devoted his mind and his means, his
time and his resources. for the last FIVE and
twenty years. He has wrought with the
enthusiastic belief that it was his mission
in the world TO supersede steam as motive
power by some more manageable and in
Ioctots agent He has fulfilled his mis-:
sioh.
The two important points in his lnvcn-
ton are economy and safety. The engine
of the Ericsson is kept in motion by one
fjh of the fuel that would be consumed by
a steam engine of the same power. Here
at once is vast saving in COAL in labor;
and in shiproom. Then there is no danger
from explosion by recklessness, oversight,
ignotance-no danger from fre,or from the
thousand and one accidents to which we
are always liable in steam navigation. We
may travel in Caloric ship without feeling
ourselves perpetually liable TO be boiled,
broiled, or blown up. There is nothing to
apprehend from an incompetent, excited,or
rash engineer, in the management of Ca
loric engine; for when it is once set in mo-
ton it needs no watching and will run of
itself for hours without calling for human
aid. The worst that could happen were
the engine abandoned, would be for the
machinery to stop some time after all the
fires were extlnguished"
1t is anticipated that but few years will
elapse before the ocean will be traversed
by Caloric lines, and the combination of
the CaIoric engine with the propeller will
enable ship thus equipped to go round.
the world without exhausting her supply of
coal. Captain Ericsson, the author Of this
great achievement, is Swede by birth,
but the U. States is his adopted cobntfy.-
He has been indebted to Mr. John B.
Ketching of New York for the means to
carry out his great enterprise in style
corresponding to its importance.
Annexed is a partial account of, the Ca
lofic Engine from lecture hpbh Ericssoni
delivered in Boston In 1913:
"The late Professor Harvefeldt, of Swe:
den, one of the first mathematicans of the
day, stated in a public lecture, not many
years ago, that there is nothing in the the:
ory of heat which proves that common
spirit lamp may not be sufficient to drive
an engine of an hundred horse pow er. It
will readily be believed that the professor
had but few hearers who did not smile at
the suggestion; but among those few We
may number Ericsson, who. from the ear
lest period of his mechanical labors, had
been in the habit of regarding heat as an
agent which, whilst it exerts mechanical
force, undorgoes no change. This extra
ordinary fact Ericsson exemplifes by SIM
pie but conclusive illustration;for the reader
reception of which, by the audience,i 1T will
be we'll to introduce particular dimensions.
Suppose the piston of an ordinary steam
engine cylinder to be at the bottom, and
suppose the force of the steam intended to
be admitted into this cylinder under the
piston to act with the force of 100000
pounds, which is the force on piston of
so inches diameter, acted upon by steam
of so pounds pressure to the square inch.
Suppose the cylinder to be ten feet long,
& the piston TO be loaded with weight equal
to these i0o, 900 pounds. If,now,a sufficient
quantity Of steam of the stated pressure be
admitted from below the piston, this load
will be elevated through the whole length
of the cylinder; and hence we shall have
raised weight of 100000 pounds through
a space of ten feet. But who will contend
that this immense amount of mechanical
force has required any expenditure of heats
Does not steam, after having lifted this
weight, contain Just as much heat as il did
before leaving the steam-boiler-less only
the losses by radiation And does not that
heat retain all the properties after the ope-
ration which it possessed before Am I,
then, incorrect in stating that we have OBJ
tanned this power without changing the ma
ture, or diminishing the energy of the heat
employed'
''From what have already said, It will
be readily inferred that the principle form
ing the basis OF the Caloric Engine is that
of ofreturning the heat at each stroke of the
piston, and using it over and over again.
This is obviously impracticable, if steam is
employed as the acting medium. Ericsson,
therefore, uses the permanent gases, and,
in preference to all other, atmospheric air:
The object which he seeks to accomplish
is simply this-that the heat contained in
the air which escapes from the working
o,,lo, Jar sbould ba etfn ct,allv taken I'm hv
the air which enters it,at each stroke of the
engine. This result Captain Ericsson has
accomplished by means of an apparatus
which he styles regenerator; and so per-
fectly does it operate, that the heat en-
ployed in first setting the engine IN motion
continues to sustain it in full working force,
with no other renewal or addition than may
be requisite to supply the inconsiderable
loss by radiation"
As we have already observed, the sue
cess of the new vessel, upon her trial trip,
was most perfect. In model, in equip
ments, in all her appointments, she is SAID
to be one of the most superb specimens OF
naval architecture ahoat. Her speed was
about fourteen miles an hour. Her con-
sumption of fuel is ascertained 10 be only sac
English Tons per tlOenty;fow hours, a sar,ng,
as compared wiM steamships, OF more tha"
eightyper cent.
~. The ultra dandies of New York are
adopting the mouse tail fashion for NOUS
taches, as described last year, as the mill
tary fashion on the Cascine, at Florence.
By means of gum or soap the moustaches