New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-04-29
STEAM on THE CANALS

some considerations In regard 10 the difiicplto e..
have been heretofore encountered by the vsrsson.
experimenters who have tried steam az the motiva
power for caDalboats, may not be without yalue IN
those persons who may try TO win this liberal sum
offered by the State.
Doubtless, the friends Of our canals have boon
much disappointed with the rate Of speed attained
by the large boats navigating them. This disap-
pointmcnt is partly due to the fact that the boats
have been of dimensions disproportoned to tho
depth and width of water. In regulating this mat,
ter the officers of the canal have been content 10 say
now deep the boats might run in the water and
nave from time 10 time, under penalties re-
CURED the managers of boats to so load them that
they should not sink below the prescribed depth in
the water. The width Of the boat, az well az its
iehgth, has been left TO be determined by its maker
on inc principle that the locks could only be passed
by boats of less width and length than their
| chambers.
The result has been that the boats have been
made upon model that would float the qrcatest
number OF tuns Of freight and pass through tina
locks inns has been great error and has reduced
the speed OF the boats, while moving along tho
Ordinary canal OF 40 feet width Of surface and feet
depth of water, to slow pace that the shipper,
Of freight have to great extent lost their patience
But the evils Of this square box called a boat do
not end with the loss Of speed in the canal Ths
| passage Of the locks consumes 80 much time that
boatmen too lose their patience and ask for larger
| locks and deeper canals. Young America and Old
America dislike to admit that anything IS too large
and it is not popular to say that the remedy for this
| difficulty should be looked for in narrower boats
rather than in wider locks. The Great Eastern.
nearly 700 feet long, was found too large for ocean
navigation, and boats that carry 24O tuns of freight
| are too large for the Erie Canal
This point-the proper width and depth Of the
boats really the first to be considered in soy-
| ing the problem of the best motive power OF
course the lessenDg Of the width and draft of the
boat involves the carrying of less freight each Trip;
but the great load is long in reaching the jour
neys end. that the cost of carrying really becomes
greater per tun than it would be if less tuns were
carried at one load, but delivered in so much less
time that the expenses Of the boat would be greatly
lessened each trip. There is a pOint-perhaps only
to be found by OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES the quantity Of
freight carried, and the rate ct which it is moved.
result in the greatest economy II liz very certain
that the large boats in too slowly to carry
| with the greatest economy.
But to return to the practical operation Of passing
one of these boats through lock
Suppose the water is just what the canal officers
contemplated feet deep in a lock, when the lower
gates are Open-and loaded 24Otun boat is entering
the lock from the lower level to be lifted to the upper
level. If the boat draws six feet of water and is
within few inches as wide as the chamber Of the
lock- the result must be that nearly all the whter
above one foot from the bottom Of the lock must
pass under the boat in space of one foot depth by
the width of the lock- Now suppose the boat is
drawn into the lock at the rate OF one mile per hour
the water under the boat must run backward ITO
get out Of the lock- at the rate Of six miles nearly
per hour. We have only to consider this sheet OF
water-say 1S feet wide, foot thick-snd the bow
of the boat is 50 or more feet within the lockthen
this sheet Of water must be forced the whole dis
lance between the bottom of the boat and the floor
of the lock- by power sufficient for that purpose.
But this is not all the trouble. The boat being 50
nearly Of the width of the lock, it must be drawn
into it in exact line it will pinch the sides.
boat may be well directed by the steersman, and ts
bow enter exactly in its proper direction, but when
it meets the increased resistance Of the confined
water it swerves from its true hne cramps against
the walls and no power can force it on until relieved
At Syracuse the accumulated business of theaEre
and Oswego Canals Obstructed at the first locks
east of the junction to such extent that the canal
contractor of repairs put on the wall dividing the
double locks steam engine, with proper gearing,
lines, and other appliances, and fully tested the i'm
possibility of passing these large boats within any
the boats cramped in the locks, the decks might be
pulled off without moving the bulls. The only remedy
was found in taking down the outside walls of both
of this pair of locks. ard moving them back and re-
| building Them so as to make their chambers two feet
wider than before This has cured the evil, or
nearly so.
| When the locks were first made, and before tho
large boats were built there should have been
structed at three four points on the canal, gate
ways of two feet less width than the other structures
| of the canal which gateways would have regulated
and governed the width Of all boats nayigatindthe
canal But the large boats have been Constructed,
and the owners cannot be asked to sacrifice them
What can be done for their relief 1t has been pro-
posed to move out the walls of all the locks
| done at Syracuse. Other men say that the Canal
Board should regulate the tuns of freight that any
boat may be loaded with, ordering no boat to carry
more than 200 tuns at one load. boat 80 loaded, 10
is argued, would carry tun so much quicker as to
do it cheaper than it would if 2O tuns were put on at
| once.
1t may be asked, If this is so, why do not the boat
men find it out This question is usually an
| swered by asking anOther-Why do not the bodSmen
know how deep to load their boats and why is it
necessary to constantly fine them and make them
take off freight from boats that they have loaded
| deeper than the law allows
If these existing boats were limited in their load
ing that would limit the depth of the draft OF waeri
and if it was known that 200 uns of freight was tno
limit beyond which no boat should be allowed 70
carry the new boats would be built narrower and
with better lines to go through the water ana 20
would take less power TO tow them.
If what has been said in regard to the eAiS'ins
difficulties attending quick transportation On our
canals is founded on correct principles theh We na'o
a starting-pont for the men who propose " Us"
| steam instead Of horses. "a,
-. boat two feet narrower than the width