The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1870-07-07
THE GREAT RACE.
"Tns LEE THE FASTEST BOAT,
The spirit OF the Press.
From the N. .. Times.

rs 10 the relative merits Of these we'll
matched rivals. As IL Is very well known,
the Lee is very broad ut the bow, while the
Natchcz is sharp as u Ratchet. The form
or seems TO push herself through the water
By main force whilst the latter cuts the
water like a knife and glidcs along with
the ease and grace of swan. The former
however, according TO her friends, has the
advantage-that the displacement of tho
water is accomplished at the bow, thus
leaving the boat to run in smooth water,
whilst the latter, from her great sharpness
at the bow, catches the water midships,
and thus loses u considerable degree Of
power.
THE LEE AND SATCHEz.
To the Editor of the New orleans Times:
In view Of the excitement caused by the
great race between the two steamboats, now
dashing up the Mississippi the following
remarks may not be without some interest
to many Of the readers Of the Times.
1t is u contest between power on ono
side and model on the other.
The Lee has the power. The cylinders
of her engines are forty inches in dame
ter, giving, in round numbers, a piston
surface of ZOO square inches 10 each en-
ginc, or 2,4O0 inches to both. The cylin-
ders of the Natchez measure thirty-four
inches in diameter giving piston-surfr &c
or sOT square inches TO each engi.Ie, or u
13i inches TO both. Therefore the Lee has
IN excess or GGG square inches Of piston
surface. Under the locked safety-valve
rule, the Ice is allowed working pres
sure of IFS pounds to the square inch, and
the Satchez 1879 pounds. Tho first, then,
has II pressure Of 3O7, 200 pounds, and the
L. "a .saaH .
their engines ut every stroke, the Lee
having m excess of 6G,l7i pounds over
the Natchc2. The engines OF both boats
are ten feet stroke, there being, therefore,
no difference Of power on that score. Tho
| dimensions and pressure allowed arr cor
| rect, at lca', they are taken from the In.
| spcctors certificates. The above figures,
expressing tho difference Of power, can be
| easily verified, ~ they are the result of
very simple calculations.
The Sutchcz has the model Not only
is this very evident 10 any one who ha,
seen the two boats under healway-tho
Lee forcing her way through the water,
rolling the foaming surge, in front of her
bow, the Notchcz gliding through with
out ripplc-but the result Of the race so
far proves the same thing TO Nicksburg
the Lee has gained fourteen minutes on the
Natchcz, As they are running ut the rate
oiabout h!tccn miles an hour, or u mile
IN four minutes, this would place the Lee
some three and half miles
or 1880 feet, ahead of her antag-
onist this divided by 400, the mum
Der OF miles between New Orleans and
Nieksburg, makes gain of only fraction
over forty feet TO the mile, II is plain,
theni that the scientific curves Of the model
lie w'ih the Naichezi Tor the Lee, IN spite
: OF her enormous excess of power is gain
ing on her but about a sixth of her length,
beating her, to Use race-,rack language, by
u head
The Na,chez was built with the express
view of beating the Lee. The result of
the race shows that her builder relied too
much on fine model, and did not nut
quite power enough in her. Oneinch more
OF cylinder would probably have given
her the championship Of the Western
waters.
JUST LIKE CINCINNATI
Under the head Of "Interes,inp IN stake.
holders, the Cincinnati Commercial makcs
the most dishonorable suggestion;
: 1t was generally understood at the be.
. ginning of the present race that It's proper
; termination would be at Cairo, and as A
. consequence, most Of the wagers have been
made upon the result as 20 their landing
at that port. Neither boat touched thai
port both standing OF ut least thre,
miles therefore II Is barely possible most al
the wagers will be called drawn WI,
: might have taken place in the throo.niIs
run To Cairo, no one wouldattemnt ,o a..
: cldei accidents always come when L., ~,
! pected; Had everything prorre,scd =.
9 iayorably A. from the start tier. ,'., "s
= moral certainty that the hackers of tbo .oo
would have pocke,ed the sum total ~, oil
such bets, but facts accomplished only de.
Q terhllho wagersi moral certainties have mo
: more weight than idle fncies or End
), hopes. 'o''
y CINCINNATI GOWNS UP"
: FROM The Cincinnati Gazette, Monday
: The three days agony is over. Va 49,,
> glad OF It. There can be no doubt now "s ~
= to which Is the aeetcst steamer ON u.s. "a
Y Mississippi The Robert L. Lee need n W.,
!, make another run until u steamboa, i
i built IN the future that, upon trial viii
: cNcei her IN speed. Cincinnati NAV h,
: PROUD OF the Natchez for her beautifu
model Her machinery is also good, els,
G she would not have made the run sbe AZ
D1solnellmes even gaining on the Lee
: "Generalship' and many other thing, ms,
r have had their influence in tho race, I'm, m,
t solid fact stares us in the face that IN,
I Lee has beaten the Natchez. The reasor
/, OF this, to plain, common sense peoplc h
0 apparent, namely; The Lee is the tastes
} boat The Natehez was built orpressl,
TO beat the Lee. The question heretofor,
, has been "Wi!l the Lee beat?" The onl,
, question now is HAS she done it?" w,
think she has, and fairly, too. The thirty
Tour inch cylinders could not cope with til,
iorty inch cylinders. Cincinnati mus
i nu,id another boat and try the larger cyl.