The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-11-12


passage Of that quantity Of water from the hull OF
the ship But Mr. Alien, I'm mis- "sagacity," has
made those openings only seven inches IN diaineeer
and, as Consequence, the paIps co1ld no' M more
than one fifth OF their capacity while the ship was
gyadu aly sinking into the caverns OF the relentless
deep What a horrible scene, There WIS
the power TO lift the entire ship ouV OF water IN tor
ty minutes; there were the pumps 20 save SKIP II
the hole had been four times large it waA, and
there one buDdred and hity human beings Pxished
because Mr.. Horarie Aien, Who would permit no
one to instruct him, had such passages TO those
pumps as that they were practically useless l
would not have that awful soece on my conscience
to own the world. Let him answer tins who can.
You all know, gentlemen, that ships Of the Cunard
line have crossed the ocean with holes IN their bot
tom as large as that which sunk the Arctic, and
large enough to sink them in an hour II the engine
had broken down; and yet they went safely, be-
cause their pumps could take up the water out OF
the bilge and throw IL overheard without difcuity
And as TO the Pacific and my private converse
ton about her: Her fate is shrouded in mystery
and none but God knows the horrors of her loss.
My friend is able to assure US that she struck the
ice and sunk. II may be 80; and hope that was
her fate, since lost she must be. But when she
left this port her eDgiue was SO arranged by Mr.
Horatio Allen that she was liable at any time to
swift destruction without the aid Of ice any other
external cause; and when we speculate upon her
probable fate, rational men naturally would assign
they know Of rather than seek for one they do
not know The Pacific had had Q Stevens cutoff
from the irst although Mr. sckles mad desired to put
OE OuS Hhc Tue DdItlC D. LUG VI
chine, Of course was a failure. and Mr.. Allen must
remedy il. He would net duplicate the Sickels cut
on of the Baltic, her sister ship, for the world yet
be must have drop valve made adjustable, and his
" sagacity' worked it out. Now, gentlemen, you
see that in the Sckels cutoff the steam valve opens
with positive motion, which is necessary for safe
ty because if the valve remains shut till the mid
die Of the stroke and then opens and continues open
for the remainder of the stroke the engine will GER
tanly go to pieces, with the most terrific destruc-
ton. Ii, however, You open the steam valve with
this positive motion, and desire drop valve, you
must trip it,-but then you have a Sckels cutoff
Mr. Allen therefore, in order to escape the humilia-
ton of using that. attempted to open the steam
valves on the Pacific with pump, in which the
valve in effect rested upon and was raised by CO.
lumn of water confined In barrel between two pi6
tons, one Of which was provided with q valve to
admit the water when needed. When the engine
raised the lower piston by positive motion, the
water were solid between it and the valve piston,
the valve would rise and when 1t had gone mp far
enough small cock opened, permitting the water
TO escape from between the pistons and the steam
valves dropped and made a cutoff. But whether
that barrel was full of water or not, depended ON
the working Of the pump. II q particle Of solid
matter got into this trap, the pump valve would
choke, and then the steam valve would not work |;
but worse than that when the engine :" raced
that u.s. ran too fast as il always does In following
seattle pump has to act with great speed;
and in all cases in working Q pump quick.
y, bow likely it is not TO I'LL with water !.
II it did not ll the steam valve would not open till
IuItuer uOWu TOE s&IOkc, duQ WHICH ~ open The
CINE would almost certainly 60 to pieces, And all
this done TO avoid the Sickels cutoff, which Mr..
Allen admits is the best. Now, gentlemen. did the
Pacific strike the ice, or did fearful crash arouse
her slumbering passengers, amid a rush OF steam
and blaze of fire, to look horrid death in the
face, without an instantis warning or q hope? i
shall not hnger there. The heart shrinks from the
fearful scene, and shall never know till the great
day Of judgment which il was But ii II should lie
true that this great experiment on human life has
so ended-I will not pursue it.
steamship ought to be defined in the dictionary
as vessel that can neither sink nor burn and none
should be permitted to 60 10 sea till her capacity 70
herself has been tested See how true this is.
Her engine power can lit her weight in five mi
nutes out OF water II applied, as 1t ought to be in
case OF accident, 10 that purpose; and how could
she sink Her boilers are fire annhilator Of the
grandest proportions, and her pumps can flood her
deck in An instant; and how can she burn? But 80
long such people as Mr.. Horatio Allen control the
construction Of ships and spend their energies and
time in contrivng how to avoid patent instead Of
how to make good ship, the lives Of passengeis
viii never be safe.
Pardon me, gentlemen, for this DEPRESSION; but
could not pass over the attempt OF my brother Cut
ting 10 wesken the force OF my statements before
you, by giving a mistaken view Of private CONVEX
sation between MS, without indicating myself from
the charge. ! am quite willing to submit 10 you,
gentlemen, whether such statements as have been
here compelled to make In self defence such "a
10 excite smile or provoke rdi ,ule as my brother
Cutting used them to do. And believe / do not
rs much IN saying ihat II Mr.. Alien had been NJ
his counsels ear to-day, as he was yesterday, we
Should have heard nothing about the Arctic or Pa
ciEc, for that gentleman knows that 1 know the
whole story.
Mr.. ctoughton-Oh, no doubt Mr.. Allen Il a bad
man.
Mr. Dickerson-No sir, no. Mr.. Allen IL not a
bad man; but God made men for different pur.
poses, and did not intend Mr.. Allen for an en-
that is all.
But, gentlemen. Mr.. Allen was in this position:
be had committed himself against this invention
MP 70 the point OF rejecting 1t from the Arctic, ard
be aspired % the dignity OF an engineer. II he
kno~leJged his error, IL BUNDLED the pride of tie
great establishment over which he presided, at the
feet Of a man who owned no spot OF earth nor a
dollar OF money-snd thai was too much e. do. Yet
the progress that Mr.. siskes had made rendered
this plan necessary 10 the art An adjustible cut
on Hust be had; and the lumber room Of the No
velty Works contains q wilderness OF brain ahOr
tons, produced IN the effort to escape Mr. Sickcls
patent. Meanwhile. there he stood az the
door. wanting bread, too happy 10 sell his
invention for any price, 70 buy and Gre for his
it'll ones. Remember. gentlemen, Mr.. Allen al.
mts this 10 b. the best; and yet all this occurred.
st last the mountain labored again and brought
forth q mouse. Who is cbargeabe with IT. psier.
nfv i M doubt- The patent claims Y as a
Joint invention; Int Mr.. Allen, with eharacielist,
mocesty, discl1irs the honor. and generously az
tributes Il 10 Mr.. Wells. Who has been promised a a
with. e. and who has sat here in court daring the
trial and who never took the stand. But gentle
men, there Is the machine and i IL simply seryis
copy OF The Sickes patent, except IN the lowe Ing
of the valve, without enough novelty in detail 10
vary even the form OF many Of the sevices: and
when you come 10 read Mr.. sickels caycat OF ls4l,
In ~hlch he describes that method Of ioseIing aud
when you reflect that Mr. Allen discaims that idea
- HE snd that NrWels does not pare 10 attempi
claim Il on the stand slthou9h osentatiously paraded
by Mr. Allen frequently in his examination. you cun.
NOT fail 10 admire the wisdom Of my learned adyersa
les in refusing 20 permit 20 prove, a. offered
70 do that hr. sickcis showed these very details 10
Nr. Allen himself. although u have Hsgu
struck with the CT onieTy OF tae jsnior counsel,
who. in his opening. repfoached me With failure to
provo this fact after having convinced bis Honor.
in an argument, that u was incompetent, aud
that n ouaht 10 lie ruled ont a. It was.
When this Infringement vas produced and put
lon ward by the Novelty Works, ihtre was an end Of
Mr. Sjckes' chance 10 sell his. lie has told sou biz
pnsitsr--his brother, clerk IN the Custom House,
earning bis daily bsad--hinself struggling against
tovery and want What could he do The drafts
men Of the different shops, Of course would obey
he ned Of the Novelty Work., ami adopt their ma.
cbine and even the government, VIII has been
49, &c. fn~w