New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-08-24
Bitter gnteuigettee.



friday Morning. August p, 1856 |
The weather was extremely warm yesterday, on /
tile 1evee especially, Tor the suns rays created |
such an intense heat % to make it anything but |
pleasant for those WHO were compelled to be on
the Ievee at any time during the day.
Business was dull-we may say fat-as there
was not one departure.
There were four arrivals-the Henry Ames,
from st. Louis; Nina SHINES, from Bayou Sara
and Live Oak and A. G. Brown, from the lower
coast.
The Ames had fair trip down, and will return
this evening, positively, for Memphis, Cairo and
ST. Louis. Capt. 7. L, Crawford is in command,
and Messrs G. A. Williams and John P. Hamilton
oficiate in the Office
We return our thanks for favors to the officers
of steamers Henry Ames Nina SHINES and Live
Oak.
The Fashion, from yicksbnrg, will be receiving,
to leave again tomorrow evening.
The Lu1niuary, John Kilgour, David White and
Mary e. Forsythe, are the next boats due from
/ St. Louis f; and the great Ruth from Cairo.
| The SUBJECT OF STEAMBOAT EEPLosIoNs-lbe
| Gen. little Disaster Caused by Neglect
ing it right that proper and full discussion should
| be had on the subject of steamboat explosions,
which, we regret to say, have become painfully
| familiar of late, we feel it our duty to publish
everything that may possibly throw light on the
subject and thereby point out the way to avoid as
much as possible their occurrence in the future.
our steamboat engineers cannot be too particular
as will be seen by the following, which we clip
from the Louisville Courier:
In the Courier the other day, abiding to the
cause of steamboat explosions citing the disaster
to the General Lyte, we stated that defective iron
and the want Of sufficient water IN the DolerS
were prolific causes. The boilers of the General
Lytle were of the regulation or lawful proportions,
the shell being of 5.l6 inch iron.
The late amended steamboat law reduces the
thickness of the iron to not exceed $40, which is
a small fraction less than SIG. In standardization
of still thinner iron we stated the fact that the
General Scott and other boats, in former years
used boilers the plates being only one-fourth OF an
inch in thickness. I'd now appears that the boat
| in question had even thinner iron than we mac
stated. The shell or plates were only 3-16 OF al
inch thick, and they never exploded, and were
/ seldom out of order.
l The boats that successfully piled the Western
! | and Southern muddy waters with boilers made
y iron only 8-l6 of an inch thick were the Genera
: Scott, which run five years in the Louisville an'
New Orleans trade, followed by the Grace Darling
which took the same old boilers that had worn GU
= the Scott, and were used successfully IN IN
Darling six years. lii 1888 the first steamer Swai
y low was built and her boilers were made of 81
e inch iron, and she run five years, was worn out
and the boilers taken out Of her and placed IN
: new boat, the new Swallow, which also ran fv
a years. The Memphis and Louisville packet
0 Northerner and Southerner had boilers made o
Ol iron only 3-16 or an inch thick, and Captain Jas
d IRWIN Of this city, placed boilers of tine same sol
Z in his famous Tennessee river packet MohicaI
@ The boilers in those days were made of good iroI
The boilers of the Gen. Eytle were said to b
10 made Of defective iron, but the direct cause 9
. \ her explosion must be attributed to the negleC
Of the engineer on duty at the time. He had bee
. running the water low, was working the docto
y; slow that is throwing but small amount {
40 water into the boiler by means Of the doctor eI
CINE, and had forgotten to increase the yolum
until too late, In the dread explosion his ow
g. life was sacrificed, and another steamboat adde
90 to the list Of disasters The result Of the invest
CATION will prove this, added to which are the d,
40 olsrations Of the unfortunate man, who bitterl
80 accused himself of neglect and hoped for death
w that he didn't want to live any longer From Il
character of the explosion it is doubtful If az
o. iron in the world could have wthstood it. 1t WI
an unfortunate disaster, the first of the kind Thu
had ever happened to the old mail line in nj
20 years.
-ov Editors Louisville Courier
- l see some remarks in your river column
az regard to the explosion Of the ilfated steam
ny Lytle. You say that all iron ought to be inspect