New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-16
syIlMBolLRR EXPLOSIONS.
+. ~, rS,,o- O, Tas n. y. vbu.s

SIR. AZ stosul-boaer explosions are rap.u" y"
.ncieasc Involving v1st destfuc'ion o' P'P.'' -
.udoep loss of many valu-b'e 'iv's aui tue -
dis,Iu.t ard constc rDation thfougso Tue
il II picp the pubIac prs rpou
-, .;,h tho view 10 ftd cut tbs cause, an', l.
~ ii, m, remedy L. all such lnveSlgs'on'
-. -, IN Ali mites, gone0ly reouludg rom
o,e;,c ,,inops hastily formed, ana iron'tue o'"se"
n;,ds NJ /, ,cre-t pa. ties; but 10 inc Ha' VI "'o
,xn,oAo,s there is peculiar oithcuty' re'uunS 10
Np' ,n. .ct tbs. the engineers in charge of
boiler. and Therefore TIE on'y persons "no N"o
.i.;, ., ,b,r use 81 abuse, are generally i9eorsd
N,,.,,,. N al things petts;nng 70 this important
-, "A the writer Of this communication u
80 h;rr- et eneer h deems T. proper TO say tna
80 he yields due respect TO thi fs!!saious public
".;,.@rt vet that res ,ect ia yielded under protest
a., a. A. be Goes not find the public inquire OF the
hlemsker for the st material for waterproof hat;
on the linko. for The best pan for ship, or churcn
or even Il wood-shod; be theietore piotests against
,sd public r,tiDg 10 shOemakcre, tinkers and oth'r
scientific africans the simple, practca yet veiy lm-
po,tant mater of the proper II ATRIAL and best form
for the cons ion of steam boer' And We 80 fur
ther and protect ag6nst reitrrig sich import tIt
matters even TO specuatols athou ID they usy have
b. eu thirty in the machine buslness; or even 10
Mr. SO aLd-so because he was sinait boy Mt ii
years Of age zee the report Of tue Harlem car ca'e or
because bis father wro,e very go1d work o. the
steam engioe
The 90 tiou We now take aud viii b We will en-
deavor TO aio a. tat with surI5le michnecy end
properly eoucR' q o0sncer tai pa q and tIcSel
with proper respect expo ion ncvet can take pace
We nnderscore proper r"pect be 'eu q from expert
tnce We well satisi"d the hes services Of g)d
crgncer will b, rendered ,gatory without it,
sDd further, whou; il -bs services Of qaqlh d en-
sineer cannot be rotliacd 10 evi Oacs Of this. We
may state that properly qgided en .ineors are grow
ng scarce io N-w.f fcu fine god Ne<-York
engineers in te S,utner1 IT. ia Cuoa, in Brazi,
in Peru, in the Eat G.des, in Europe; yea, iu Eu-
rope On the pu1li' WORK. Of ), Petersburg in Bef
lin in Vienna, in II smblrs, IN MaTs.le', aod on the
Danube, You viii find Ne" io:k engineers. Aud why
"a this We answer b. .cau'e aside of New York they
are fairiy paid and treated WITH proper repec aod
they prefer leaving their home end Golas among
.'rsrlers to staying in New Ymk a 20 80 per week,
with tlO1 water IL he weu' and hn5 sauboe1 on
Saturday morning that i. IL uoue Of their business
whether the boiler is 10 be oloya off THAI afternoon
(see the eyid' me- ia Wilcee expoi)n c4se). Aud
here we Go not wish 10 ne urds s'ood a concerning
for high wages much as proper trsatment, slch
treatment the poCsbii,y OF exposition dsml,ds.
The high wages has long rlhce been ruobed ou-
OF the affect ons Of New.Yo.k mechanic. WITH
coarse file.
But our ohjec al this time is TO give the practical
views OF ttoam boiler man, il regard TO the tEo re-
cent boiler disas nov cianinS the attention OF the
public. We "i therefore, leave generaliziny, prom
isirg however. 10 RI urn 10 il ana tustsln what
have in regard to good engineers fair pay and
proper tire atment.
Ne will first look ct the B-y state dis ,ster. And
here is ecessary unde thai there three
fons OF bu, surg which rtLder boilers uuft for
vice tocbnica ly termed among stes n boiler engoees
"colapsiog" :" irac' arng" and 'exPloding' Foe
6Ist can t,ver t7ke pl1ce ia high pres, ure boilers
at IT, boilers carryin; team over 10 lbs To tbs inch.
The New York steamboat inspector termed the Bay
state disas a collapse but Il was au error, and it
important thai the ci,ncton shouid be ulderstood or
we will never attain Iemeoy gainst xplJsons.
IOapse where the portion Of the bOsf forced
iom out.ide pressure iDwlid that is into the BOILER
aid Lot in fac III chimney, as IN these cases the
pressure s from the inside OF the bolier
- NH. JaQ- ~snQf oft tte
hoer, weak 40 II loO:e rvcts b.dy dc5gaed braces,
or an imperfect she-t gives way t. this all bOefs
are or less litbr and Il happe quite frequently
in steamboat r.iro,d and manufacturing engines.
The Cnly eff Ct, generally, ID the stoppaSe OF tue
wOik until Icpiis be made InIs racturlng IS
not ana canuo. lee1 TO, Jluson. Ii can sn1 fco-
quentiy does take place with 7ufii ency of water
ard uUder the Orcinzry Pessure; and II the fracture
l. above T. water line II merely acts as safety valve
to blow of the steam and IT below the water line, It
acts blow of valve ana OoSs tue FitT and
steam ut Of the oOiier. Generally speaking, 90 n,
fully tips ca engineer, will fortsee sUch frictGTt and
abplJ che proper rtmtdy IN tue; and II 10 for tns
reason that Il good eu8lneor fairly pa /, and fang
trls cd, the most Jm ch IN the long ru0,
IA be you from ost time, extra expense, and,
peIadvCn uIe, iIom explosion Aud here It Is proper
10 tate that, notwithstanding Brooklyn gentleman
engaged III the machine business coasiiers - as
the wagcs of engineers, aud that lit dos no.
"reQ0iic any skill or experience u manage steam
"epgine' tkeIe are ohcr business men IN New
Yo,k wo think aud ect differently, and that
Sl4 to go per wo,k ard es We cOnsidcr Nlders
safe facofy fist-class cstablsbm'n' ths
Iropi Cor ought to hide their he ais 10 sbame IN com
ing before tie pu lie and sliny that they placed
mar "a 20 responsible situation at - 90 pr week.
II will h. Observed here tlat this man. IA the event
nroyes placed in charge of all the lives IN the 'ac
ory for il is cue to Provloence' ana no TO gooa man
sgtment that there were not sixty hves ln1el1 OF
tire D, str sed. l. is perhaps not best TO Allie 20
th,ir msgn6I init IN raising the engineers wages %
ce1ts to IL, & t5e en- arEen vows o. tue InehA gen
al ratin ahp n II sSt5
of our city But to return To this class OF fracture
beol Tie Bay STATE disaster ana bat ior the ano.
turhie Circumstance that the factWed sheet turncI
tito the chimney and thereby plevcn;"d the esc pe OF
the s,4sm there woul1 have been scad!ng or Ioss
of hte and the passengers would psJbtby have had
no further difficulty than few hours Logger passage to
Neg-Yotk. OF thirty cases of fracture where the
hles have been rendered uuf for seryice, that have
fa.p under tue observation Of tbe writer during the
nast five or six ears tho b ~ State" and the Rein
De- the only instances where the accident was
attend. by ecaCirg VI lOss Of nt.
p Erposion In I. gard to this cla,s OF accidents,
we st.it with the r1le that exp zion never has and
Ieycr can Cccur with suiii lehcy OF Tdtsr ID tue
boiler. We are fu aTare that thl5 Il disputed Oy
ho, oct rneu who sve ha1 much 70 do with stea bo
ers Nevertheless, 1t is capable OF easy, though some
what expensive CeulOnstIatIon. t1f mdince, take
boiler siIIar TO those used in NlGers Safe Factoryi
6iit two thirds full of wste, fsten down, or entirely
dttuse with the satctyyave; then tire up until some
thug cive way. WLai viii Ue tue result Ncsty,
apn Gay it from txpeletce tna' on redchioS pressure
OF about 600 pOu to the inch tue boiler he id *
bow out that being t1e weakest part IN boilers OF tel'
fn OC coArsc, it viii be prGoont 10 keop oot of The
WAY when tue boiler head blow out, TO prevent
being scaiooc bui a. the sam; tino We wish u
understood thGt the will be Do dar9er OF the bJlef
starting from it, f,unoatoa ana preaching a 2f
;lch wall or demoi-hiog a iour-s,ory building.
Th,s 50 rttu- cannot BE- produced by stcun, anG
III itfore this bur~ting v0Ild not be an explosion
bu' siu ply factur.,2 the weakest part ot the
l. ieI b. the preesure Of otean. Now take another
sm.s boil r. tll It oncttifd iu Of water or 20 ajt
ave Ioa ion i,s surflcc without waor, posed
10 tnn IL. 80 ION OF tho tn hnl in tn the