New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-05-21
BOAT LAUNCH.
The Arctic Expedition-TriaI of New
Boat by Captain Hail-A Full Descrip-
From the Washington Chronicle, NAVAL

| ton.
From the Washington Chronicle, May I2l
In the fall of 1864 while the army of
| General Thomas was lying at Chattanooga.
| Tennessee, preparing to jim the army of
| General Sherman in its grand march"
while the subject of means of transportation
was taxing every inventive nerve among
| the officers of the engineer corps, John
| Hegeman, a sergeant in charge of repairs
| on pOnt0On boats, conceived the idea of
building canvas boats, with light jointed
| frames, which, when not in use, could be
| folded up and slowed away in small space
| thereby greatly facilitating the transporta-
| ton of the pontoOns from point to point
| since but one wooden boat could be carried
on a wagon. He sketched out a plan of
such boat and submitted it to the chief of
| engineers, who Immediately ordered the
| construction of ten boats, and put Mr. Hege-
man in charge of the work. Subsequently,
| sixty more were ordered, and all were in
| readiness when the army moved. They
were used by Sherman's army from that
| time until the close of the war, and. as the
official report says, "were indispensable"
Sometime ago Mr.. Hegeman submitted a
model of his invention to Captain Hall
who was endeavoring to secure the best
method of transporting his stores in his
travels in the Arctic regions. The captain
was well pleased with the model, and
ordered the construction of two boats, one
of which was launched and tried at the
navy yard at two o'clock yesterday after
noon. 1t is a great Improvement upon the
old pontoon boat, being more compact and
convenient, and reduced about one-half in
weight. 1t is a flat-bottomed, square-end
boat, the frame of hickory and ash, and
supported by metallic knees. The stats
across the bottom are about ten inches
apart so as to bring an equal strain on all
lrt- 41,n,
III proper shape and set ON the canvas
which is drawn up over the sides and ends
and lashed with cords secure to the bot
tom Of the frame
The boat is twenty feet long, four wide.
ana two feet deep, weighs two hundred and
nifty pounds. and will accommodate twenty
men. When empty it draws about one inch
OF water, and with sixteen men aboard a
little less than nine inches Its total dis
placement of water is four tons. and its bur-
den three tons. The trial, which was wit
messed by several of the officers of the navy
yard and others, was complete success
When taken out OF the water the process of
Numbering and folding up occupied inst
three minutes. This was done in this wise
The cords are unlashed, and the canvas
loosed, falls to the ground. The rings are
slipped from the knees, and the sides fall in
on to the bottom the frame is then turned
over and the ends Tapped down on the other
side, so that when closed 1t occupies about
One-seventh of the space OF the boat. The
second boat will be smaller weighing about
one hundred and fifty pounds.
Captain Hall, after proceeding as far as
possible with his ship, will pack these boats
and his provisions upon a couple of dog
sledges and continue his journey over the
ice fields. When water is again reached he
will reverse the order of things, that is
stow provisions, sledges, and dogs in his
boat, and take to the water in good shape.
Only thoSe who know something of the
mode of such travel can appreciate the diff
Guilty OF taking wooden or metallic boats
across the broken plains OF ice, and the i'm
mense expense of time and labor REQUIRED
to accomplish the task. Four men can
easily handle these boats, while the others
require twelve at least In a country
where an expedition must start with stores