Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-06-28

Before we go on board, we notice at 9
small distance from each end what appears
to be, and are really, the fins Of the ship.
! Three metal blades are visible near each end
and three more, we are told, are out Of sight
under water. Each set Of blades, or fans,
forms a screw propeller, it being intended
that the vessel shall go ahead or astern with
equal facility. The propellers differ in
many respects from the screw Of an ordi-
nary vessel-in there being one at each end
Of the ship, in half Of each being out OF
he water, whereas usually the whole is i'm
mersed and also in the peculiar way in
(which they are connected with the ship.
The engineers say that their six blades, of
which, az they revolve, three win be always
Immersed, will do the same work as the
7 three blades Of an ordinary screw, Those
pointed pieces beyond the screws are,to d.
vide the water as the ship goes ahead or
EASTERN they turn round with the fans, the
whole revolving with an axis or g shaft =
which extends the whole length of the ship,
and turning about straight line drawn
from point TO point of the cigar. The ship
really ends inside of the screws. and, di-
vested Of the screws and points, would look
like a cigar with two blunt ends; but the
form of the vessel appears perfect to the
point, and the blades seem to have been
thrust in to,the surface. Like the fms of a
fish, they are so evidently not parts of the
surface as not to take off the effects of its
curvature. 90 - $50 - 1f1s .9.1lEs
On board the ship, we are first -shownthe
engine-room. We go. down a staircase SO
constructed as to put our hats in imminent
danger of being knocked in or off, and find
ourselves on one side of the engines, which
are in the. centre of the. ship. What. an
intricate maze of pipes and rods and cranks,
all polished to marvellous degree Of per-
lection Every cubic inch appears to have
been made some use Of and when the en-
gineer, Whe has volunteered to show us the
engines, lifts up piece Of iron in the floor
ing, wesee that the snallsplace beneath is
full of pipes and taps. also. Sour great
difficulty" says ne, '.has been TO find room
for everything we never fitted engines of
suon great power in so small a space. You
can see here" he resumes, /" the way in
which the ship is put together. This, which
you can touch, is the halfinch outside plat
ing. What would they have said few
years ago to having ships half an inch
thick p
He informs ius that these half-inch fat
iron plates form the skin Of the ship, and
are kept out to their curved form by iron
ribs, which, in the ends of the vessel, are
complete circles; but here, where we are
rooted in by deck, they form three parts
of a circle, and the ends turn up, and make
the upper boat-shaped portion of the ship.
The ribs are formed of what are technically
called angle-irons, section being an angle,
each of whose two bounding lines is about
half an inch thick. An idea of the form of
these ribs may be obtained by half opening
book, first dividing the leaves in the mid
die of the book. One of the covers with
its leaves may be taken to represent the
leaf of the rib which is next the skin, the
other the leaf which is at right angles to it,
and imparts the strength required to keep
the skin in its proper form. The advantage
of this form of rib appears to be that it can
be easily fastened to the skin by rivets.
The ribs in the engine-room are placed
about yard and half apart, that being
the largest compartment of the ship, and
also being subjected to great strains by the
motion of the engines. ''a
As the engine is only interesting through
being fitted in so small space, we do not
spend much time over it, but ask our guide
to show us the next compartment. He says
the next is the stokehole; so'we mount the
staircase, and go down still more difficult
descent into box about three or four yards
square. We notice four furnaces, two on
the fore and two on the after side. "Y on
see,' says our guide, g there is not much
room for stoking, and can assure you it, is
very hot here when steam is up, although
we have thick doors to our furnace.'1o sG4i
"Where do the GOALS come from 9'' ! in
quire.. "The Goa lbunkers at the side seem
very small ~ 5"" 9e"
80, they are slowed under the saloons
and cabins; but we can get at them from
here. Perhaps you have seen an absurd
drawing of the ship in some shop windows
in the city! 'The artist appears to have
seen your difficulty aud has shown the
Goals in the points bey or 1.-The screw. 1t is
true we might have filled the, points with
GOALS, but we should never have been able
to get them out"
/ remark that they seem to have very
small space for water in the boiler =,
Z. ssY es, only three inches all round the
furnace and so our pumping arrange
iments have to be very carefully contrived.
so that the boilers shall be filled as soon as
the water is turned into steam. I must in
troduoe you to the donkey, this small en-
CINE in the corner; his duty is to pump
water into the boilers, and to work the ven
tilating apparatus. TT 3gsE ~
''The ventilating apparatus, is
that?" / ask. ~ ef'A - -
"The part of it which you can. see here is
that tube overhead, and the barrel through
which it appears to pass. The tube, extends
nearly the whole length of the ship, and
the small pipes convey. the hot air into it
from the cabins. 1t empties itself into the
barrel, in which are revolving fans. The
donkey turns the fans, and, thus the air is
drawn out of the tube, and expelled through
the opening which you see in the barrel
When we have steam up, we are so hot here
that the heated air from the cabins is cool
ing, and we, only get the. draught on our
heads, it is something like having ones
feet in warm bath, and head in snow
storm"
"And l suppose the donkey works that
ballast-m machine which have heard of as
one of the curiosities of the cigar-ship ?" !
$50 no; there is another small engine on
purpose" answers the engineer. ..You
know, then, that we have something now
in the way of ballast. 1t is under the en-
gine-room, just in the middle of the ship,
and consists of a pendulum of lead weigh
ing about seventeen tons. When the ship
is too much on one side, we move the penau-
lum to the other, and she is righted at once;
so you see we shall not roll over and over
in the first heavy sea we meet, as people are
fond of saying about US. You have now
seen all can show you about the engines +;
suppose you win not care about the ss-
looms which are only painted and gilded as
they might be in any other yacht, but
would prefer seeing the novelties of the
ship. If so, am at your service"
Ghno,f,,ll1r thio nffor. cnnr, Il