Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-03-23
How the Steamboat Law is Administered

against excessive heat in boiiers, oy ehac'ihg that, it should be the duty of the inspectors to see that
 "In or mon the outside fiue of each outside bgh pressure boiler, there s placed, in a sJiita- lie manner, allowed metals fusibe by the heat of the boiler when raised 10 the highest work ipg rressure allowed, and that, m or upon the top of the fiues of all other high pressure Doll CTS in the steamers such allowed metals are placed as aforesaid, using at ten pouids greater pressure than said metals on the outside boilers, thereby, in each case, fettipg steGm escape; Pro yided however. iH steamers heieaiter supplied with new high pressure boilers, if the alloy fuses on the outer boilers at pressure of ten pounds exceeding the working pressure allow ed. and twenty pounds above said pressure on the inner boilers, it shall be sufficient com pliance with the act"
 The object of the law being, as expressed in it's title. 10 provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels pro- pelled in whole or in part by s'eam,' rational interpretation of that part which we have itali- cised, is, that the steam should thereby es- cape" iu such quantities as to deliver from im- pending danger. Letting the steam escape by an orifce no bigger than pin hole would be compliance with the letter of the law, but not with its spirit.
 This provision appears quite adequate to the erd intended But, friend of ours whose position compelled him to closely watch for years in succession, the operation of the steam boat law, says that nothing has gone far to- wards convincing him of the futility of all at tempts to save lives hy legislation as the pro- ceedings under the provision relative to fusible alloys.
 The preparation of these alloys is delicate operation. There was manutactory in Pitts burg in which this business had been regularly carried on for some ten or fifteen years, whereby the manufacturer had acquired that skill which only long experience can impart. But instead of getting their fusible alloys from him, the pervising inspectors applied to the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Corwin) to have them pre- pared at the navy yard al Washington.
 Now it is an established fact, that, whatever the United States government does in the way of manufacturing, DO matter whether 1t be
  either i'll done. or else done at much greater cost than the same work would be done by in- dividuals So it was in this instance Mir. Ellis, the chief engineer at the Washington navy yard, said he knew nothing about the prepara- ton of fusbe alloys. He nevertheless had to undertake it, when directed by his superiors, and the result was that he produced alloys which could not be depended on in practice.
 This was not all The supervising inspec- tors suffered each local inspector to apply the fusible alloys as ght meet his whim or ca price, A a consequence, t was by some al- piled in the form of plugs, and by others iu open tubes of various forms, through which the metal was exposed to he pressure of the steam as well as the heat, and thereby rendered use less for the purpose intended In some irstan- ces, it was applied in Evans smaller instru- ment, or safety alarum To have insisted ou its application in the larger instrument, or safety guard, would have brought ou d contest with the parsimony of boat owners, and the I-eiu- dices of engineers for which the inspectors were ot prepared.
 Thus matters proceeded till some time in 1854, (we be'ievc) when the matter was fully discussed at meeting of the board held at Washington City. A gentleman who was pre- sent at that meeting states that the result of the discussion was to leave on his mind the con viction, that, if any faith could be placed in hu- man testimony, few things were better estab- lished, than that fusbe alloys when applied in the form of plugs or open tubes were useless or worse than useless, and that when applied on the principles of MT. Evans they answered every purpose that could be reasonably expected.
 Eight of the nine supervising inspectors were present at that meeting, and seven out of the eight united in resolution coldeming the ap- application of fu>ble alloys in such way as to be subject to disintegraton by the pressure of steam.
 This was positive. But certain of the local boards contended that in conseutng originally that the alloys should b. applied in tLe form of plugs or open tubes, they had entered into 'a contract'' with the owners of the Loats and that insisting on the application of lhe alloys in A new manner, would be "a uolatioa of Mat con- tracf'-thereiore they paid litt.e regard to the resolution of the supervisors
 | At the next annual meeting ol the superyi- sors, held at Detroit, a resolution was adop.ed, so modifying their original resolution, as not to require the local boards ito violate their con- tractS"-in other words suffering all the boats that were supplied with the alloys in forms that are useless or worse than useless, to continue so to Use them
 In the meantime, the preparation of the fu,i- ble alloys was transferred to the mint at Pbila- delphia. The officers and men at the navy yard at Washington City, were glad enough to gel rid of a business that did not properly be. long to them; but the mint was not the n;ace to which to transfer it. Bismutb, one of the me- tals that enter into the composition of fusibIe alloys, deprives gold of it's duo ty. Therefore the smallest particle of bismuth is not suffered to enter the doors of the mint. However Pro- lessor Booth, after long cxperimenting in his lr'vate laboratory, succeeded in preparing fusi- Die alloys, which, we have good reasons for be- hevns will, V Prqpe'y applied, answer the pur- pose intended.
 At their annual meeting, held at St. Louis in October, 1856, the supervisors seemed to be increasing in their disposition to have the al- Joys applied in a suitable manner, for they pas sed resolution "that the local boards of n- spectors shall, in all cases where new instru- ments for the application of the fusible alloy shall be required atter the lst of January, 1856, reject all such instruments in which the valves have less diameter than one inch"
 This was encouraging. It indicated progress, though very small progress But, some months afterwards explosion occurred on board of a boat supplied with one of these previous contri- vances with valve not less than one inch in