The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-01-08
The Facts Connected WITH the ExPIG
sion of he,StcnmerC Cottage, Mo- 2
- oFF1oE OF LOG 4 Az INsPEoroRs, ! (
4 5PoRT OF WHEELING, w. VA,
TO 1a6mas Ho'TNbrook, lSSttT-Ueyor Of Chs

-
To Thomas HoTAbrook, .StrUeyoF Of Chs
toms, Wheeling, ". Vu.:
S1R-We hereby report to you, as re-
quired by the 9TH section, 14th clause, OF
the Steamboat law OF 1852, our actionjn
relation to the explosion of steamer
Cottage, No., which occurred onGthe
morning of the 4th of December, 1865,
while ascending Johnston,s. shoals, on
the Big Knnawha river. This boat was
provided with two high pressure boilers
% feet long and 3Si inches in diameter,
constructed of iron, 14-4S of an, inch in
Thickness, with five nine inch return
ftfes in each, of proper construction, and
madein the year 1862. The iron was
stamped according to law, and was al
lowed working pressure ofl42 pounds
We tested these boilers on the list day.
of December, 1865, subjecting them to
ihydrostatie pressure ofs2l5 pounds TO
the square inch which proved u salts
factory test in all RESPECTS. Lemuel
Faulkner, a first call engineer. andiwho
was on watch at the time Of the expio-
sion, states that there was suffeiency
Of water in the boilers, and was carrying
trorn ls5 to t41 pounds of steam. as in
ldicated by the steam Ruage. VIM. g.
Cnrtisg acting as second engineer, tosti=
ifies to having tried the water but two
or three minutes previous to the explo-
nion, and fonnd it flush, and waa9carry-
ing but 14O mounds of ateam. They both
attribute the explosion to patch gfv-
ing way, which was put. on the boiler a
short time previous, having been strain
ed and started, as they suppose, while
undergoing the test, to such an extent as
to cause it to give way at a pressure OF
140 pounds.,, - ~
Wedof not accept the position as cor
rect; however sincere they may be, for
then the present method of testing boil
ers wouldnot only be not beneficial, but
DANGEROUS ms tending, to weaken boil
ers to such ID degree a1 70 cause them to
give way at q much less than. working
pressure. We cannot conceive now
this explosion occurred at pressure OF
but 140 pounds, when but three days
previous the boilers stood pressure of
2I5 pounds as above stated, by the only
correct method of determining their
relative strength. "A method devised
by the first mechanical minds of the
country and sanctioned by the COM
bined wisdom of the nation, the adyan-
tages of which as test principle has,
we think, since its adoption been fully
demonstrated. Tor the purpose of as
sisting us in Determining the caussot
this disaster. we examined the boiler as
soon after the occurrence as possible,
and found the third and fourth rings,
together Witha portion of the second,
torn out. while the inues OF Lhe salhS'
and the. other boiler were uninjured.
The patch referred to by Mr.. Faulk-
ner and Curtis we find to be of good
iron, and was we'll put on and proved
capable of resisting the working pres
sure. We are therefore clearly of the
opinion that this explosion was caused
by an over-pressu of steam, and do
suspend the license of Lemue1 Faulk-
ner for the period of one year from this
n otp for. ia TIsinV the same.
Respectfully submitted.
- Il H. Jos.-S. ARMSTRONG,
,,.-.. HIRAM YOUNG. st =.
,..-...-. Local Inspectors.