New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-06-20
HOW TO USE STEAM on THE CANALS

ease xs- spplei by means OF side-wheei-, hke COM
ucr steamboat II was said that il injured the banks
of the canals. have looked with interest on every
at.supt Of the kind partly because liked TO see thu
world adv Ance and parts because wished the horses
TO escape the cruelty TO which too many Of them ara
there subject.
After observing so many failures the questions arose,
is success impossible or do the experimeniers nos
sufficiently understand the subject For years hsss
believed i is the latter and have not dSa@ that
can row point out the path to perfect success.
On the canal, as well as with Archimedess lever,
power is useless without ;nicrum. In common Win
many others have reflected on the teaSioihty oS
using the sides or bottom OF the canal as iacEnhi.
Such plan would evidently have one advantage, ~
would ave the power that Is ost by ship when Zach
yieldilg material water is used. hut the disad-
yantages seemed ~ great that hong since fell back
upon water as upon the whole the best falcrdn thar
could be obtained. ,
To u.5erstAnd how 10 take the most economical adj
vantsge steam on the canal several things us' Oh
horne in mind that are not very generally known,
even amoIc who profess 10 DC engineers ana mae
thinis-; ..
ur,ler The best possible conditions would require eight
field power: while do 1t WITH propcllers on Wheels OF
the same AREA would require much more.
S,cond. II requires greater increase ct power 10
double speed on the canal than on a lake or rivos.
THIRD. ANY Increase of power on gwen Hsed pro-
pcller increases the percentage OF oss by slip.
Fosyih. Two vessels may have the same amount ~
rover, and propoers of the same SEE ana ye. ono
lose more than i've times much by slip as the other.
Ffth The same vessel on the canal sl lose moro
hy slip than On a lake or riyer.
OF all those who have attempted n pat steam on
the canal how many have there been who understood
well all Of these facts Perhaps not one and Yet any
person who attempts it, without being familiar with
Them must go at IL more az less blndly
Mat do the foregoing facts teach They teach rs,
4 ~. he
cal than horse power yet, for wait OF knowledge IN
applying il, thar possible gain may become positive
loss They asu each US, that ON the canal We need
prUpeers Of much larger area thaa on AXE oE i'eS
in proportion H. the power.
10 use steam then, economically on the cana, wo
should not attempt much increase OF speed. AsN-
horse power engine, after allowing more than ha Tor
waste by Zip ard oth.rie would do AS weil as two
horses need not W, Ugh more than tun and need not
interfere ali with the room usually allotted ioc
freight. Such engine would make saving OIL moro
| than five collars u day for each boat
IIut how shah confne the loss within those limits
| so as to enable us TO use so small an engine wa
| shall see.
A canal.boat il doomed TO move slow from two
causes one il found in the form OF the boat and the
other in the uphill work it must perform The water
confined by The banks rises heaps up IN front Of tho
boat until sufficiently elevated Ia cause II Ia run by
the boat as il advances. The boat has thus 10 run
continually ogaipsts sort of inclined plane.
No matter what the.cause, boat that is compelled
10 move slow requires propeliefs oil larger area or We
may lose three iouhs Elnotenhs OF the power
10y what il called slip that is, much more power -
used in throwing or showing water backward than IN
moving the boat forward indeed we have known tina
loss from that cause to be great as eeven.tsellths.
ANY person may realize the nature OF such loss ~
walking up steep sandhill where sand is continually
giving way beneath the feet lie will ind II tar moro
labor 10 walk me under such circumstances.
The inertia Of the water is the only fucrun used by
vessels propelled by steam; aud q boat that 10 able
from any 10 go twenty feet second through tha
water has five tmes much inertia for fulcrum as
one that goes only four If the propeers are equal IN
sze Cana-boats, therefore labor under the disad-
vantage If comparatively weak hiorums, as coui-
pared with lake anu river boats whle as the same
time they have greater resistance Ia proportion To
speed 10 meet with. This difficulty must be met IN
some way by getting better fulorum. We cannot Tor
wel-knOwn reasons, use SIDE wheels as was once at
tempted; neither would they gave iuctum enough u
A crew or the form of wheel called propeller is,
undoubtedly the best adapted for the purpose OF any
that have been tried but cannot increase the szo
oG il beyond the depth OF the boat without danger Oh
ia beine broken on the bottom OF the canal
How then shall We improve our fnlcrum Wa
can use two or more such wheels They may both %
run by the same engine we'll NJ one. They wal
interfere less with the rudder than one and when tho
boat light and they partly out of the water oy
turnI toward each other they WIZ tend 10 neutral
ze any side motion they give the water, aud thus
cause LEES disturbance at the banks than single
would do. We can thus not only double the iucrnm,
but gain other advantages besdei and by thus saw
ing power that we would otherwise lose IN amp, Is
smaller engine will TO give the speed required
The propeller itself however may be much improved.
Notwithstanding DIR. Lardnsr NJ memory does not
deceive mel spoke If one form OF the propeller as
being perfect we know it has never yet received
truly scientific form any Of the specimens or dsscrp-
| tions we have seem Ii would make our article too
ore TO 90 into that now but by acting the IDEAS
have already given, steam may be successfully used
on tn. canal although that would be greater
OF couse with more perfect propeller.
Let sAy one examine my reasoning carefully and
compare il with the two last attempts that have oh
served TO use .team on The canal In the first OF the
two eAperne ns alluded to- they used an engine appar-
emily Of more than twenty horse power Tue $40
was such to occupy perhaps fourth or third OF
the boat and the weight SO great that when going
without a load the bow would stand out ~ the water
so much as to greatly interfere with the hncs OF come
ness to say nothing If beauty. la addition to rhess
defects It's imperfect propeller made very inh.
NOUS sla hrg in the water. The owners were per-
hans not aware that than thres.ourts " their
power was wasted, while their small gain OF speed
ihey knew was Of little practical value. ny using
such large engine they lost in first cost they lost ia
fuel they lot in room, they lost IN ability I'D carry
freight. Al Of these losses united made steam an-
doubtedly mere expensive than horsepower ihe
neat attempt was to put st more power on one boat
and use that 10 tow others. That was more unwlse
Than the other for the proportion Of po"er wasted
you'd be greater than ever while the time lost in
passing locks would be- Increased one hundred per
cent tor svery additional boat. IL IA wonder that
such attempts should fail. 1 have but one word 10
add viz: ID. ud any one with TO try again upon ths
besis have indicated, am willing 10 aid them IN tho
atteu,uf FUtTON
rrr-ScApfAN cpAcc nE IOWA