Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-02-08

The piston in the working cylinder is
made six feet deep from top tosbottom,
concave underneath TO fit the cylinder.
bottom, and fiat at tho top. The top, as
we'll as the sides, are Of iron, but the
space between is filled with gypsum and
charcoal, non. conductors ofheat. Thus
while the bottom has tho temperature Of
the hot air in the cylinder, the top is per.
fcctly cool. The heat there is barely
sufficient to keep the tallow usol for lu'
brication in fluid state, not to burn it.
In fact, one can stand upon it as it plays
up and down, and many gentlemen a.
unused themselves yesterday by riding
there. This enables tho engineer at any
time to grease just the part oft which he
may desire; when the ship is careening,
for instance, and the friction Of the pis.
ton is all On ono side, that side can be
directly Iubricatcd. This is point Of
great practical importance, which can
not be attained in q steam engine. Nor
is there any danger Of burning the pack.
ing, for it is at the top Of the piston, and
never comes within less than six feet ol
the irr.
The cylinders act in pairs, and in each
pair the action is rcciprocating; that is
to say, as the piston goes up in one, it
goes down in the other.
The pressure for which the csloric en-.
CINE is calculated is u lbs. per square
inch, and to obtain this, it is necessary
TO hca: the air to 3s4 deg. By raising
the air to 45o deg, pressure Of IL
lbs. could be obtained, but IL is suffi.
cient for practical purposes, and more
convenient to manage. Capt. Ericsson
is of opinion that that will be retained
as the maximum pressure by future bull
dcrs Of engines. Yesterday, owing to the
unfinished state Of the machine, and cs.
pecially of the valves, it was impossible
to get more than lbs. pressure. Will
that, nine or ten revolutions were obtain
cd per minute. The full number Of re-
volutions to be had from the Ericsson''
engines is reckoned at -, and at tina
rate It is calculated that she will make
Fl om 10 to 12 miles an hour. This is thu
utmost that is hoped from her, and We
think rather more than will be obtain
ed. Her engines arc not powerful C
nough to make her competitor in spee'
with the fast Collins or Cunard steam
ers. For that, she must have larger cyl
inders. The means Of increasing powe
is to enlarge the diameter Of the cylin
ders. When these engines weIc built
Capt. Ericsson desired to have cylinder
of l6 feet, but no establishment would
undertake to cast them, and IA were tll'
largest he could get. Now, Mcssrs. Hog
& Dclamatcr are ready to make them o
any size required, at their own risk.
The smoothness with which the en-
gines worked was remarkable. Captain
Ericsson said that J lb. pressure was c
nough to move them. The amount @
friction he finds very much less than h
anticipated. The coal consumed by tn
whole four furnaces is at the rate Of 81,
tons in "a hours; I tons is the utmos
limit Of their consumption. The eng
neer and one fireman suffice to tend tn
whole mechanism. There is no unplcas
ant smell, as about steam machinery
There are two smoke pipes, and tw
pipes to carry off the escaped air. Thes
, pipes are IL feet above the deck, and 8
inches In diameter. They are painte
: white, with a gilt rim at the top, but ther
is not smoke enough to sully them. Th
amount Of air passing through these for
cylinders in an hour is from SO to Z
tons. This keeps the ship perfectly ver
tilatsd. 1t was cool and pleasant in tn
immediate vicinity Of the furnaces
N. Y. Tribune. ,.. s s...s .