Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-05-02
HIS PLAN.

largest SIZED SHIPS over the bar, At the
mouth of the Mississippi.
HIS PLAN
At this stage Of our lecture, perhaps I
had best describe TO you, a. we'll as may,
tho way in which / propose to float yes
sells into port, the machinery l shall make
use of, and its mode of application. The
machine which I propose to use, and Of
which ! rave had full and exact drawings
made, will consist OF four floating docks,
built of iron; each dock about one hun
dred snd ssventy-ive feet long and fifty
feet in breadth. They are pointed at the
bow and blunt at the stern, like a row
boat, and have 2 depth Of twenty-five
feet, each dock being divided into nine
compartments, into which the water is
admitted by means of valves in the bot
tom, and the sides of the compartments
are also provided with other valves,
whereby the water can be allowed to flow
from one compartment to another. When
it is required TO submerge the dock, the
valves in the bottom are opened and the
compartments fill with water, which is
expelled when required by the action of
a centrifugal pump connected with each
compartment by ~sluice-VslVes. Each
dock is provided with steam-engines-one
Of one hundred horsepower, which serves
the purpose Of propulsion; the other of
twenty horsepower, which works the
HAAAB AAlA GAhALaa All Tic DOLEOuA VALVES
are opened and closed by suitable rods or
levers extending to the surface of the
deck, and by means Of sluiCe-Yalves the
communication between each or all Of The
compartments and the pump chamber is
opened or closed at pleasure, and the
water can thereby be confined TO the after
compartments, 10 balance the weight OF
the vessel to be lifted, or allowed to h0w
equally all through the dock. The pump- |
chamber or central compartment must be
made Water-tight, but the other compart-
ments need not be so constructed.
A PICTURE.
Now picture to yourselves two of the
floating docks standing stern to stern aud
held together by strong cables, and paral-
lei with them the other two docks, SINH
larly connected at the stern, each pair of
docks being far enough apart to admit of
the action Of b cradles or supports
are to hold the vessel to be buOyed
up. The cradles are built ofiron, and are
fiat floors n hundred and twenty
feet. long and fifteen feet broad. The
over which the main or lifting
chains pass are supported so as to turn
freely in strong iron brackets, which are
firmly secured to the deck Of the dock,
and are strengthened by diagonal tie-rods,
lower ends are secured in shoes to
the bottom of the girders. The lifting
Ian @AC Ne19D1 NAAcAhA A0AE9 IA kA0 I
brsckets, and are held fast by clamps
to n OF the links behind the
brackets. These chains are attached to
strong ruuniug-blOcks or shsaves, which
are connected with the ropes or chains;
shel latter are passed over suitable guide
and through the hXSd blocks TO
The barrel of the winding machinery ar
in the center of the dock. Two
are used in the process Of lifting,
which lie in a horizontal plane, end to
3nu, one being slung from each parallel
pair OF docks, snd both being employed
% sustain the weight of the vessel.
Alongside a freighted vessel Of great
.Onnage lying outside the Balize, the float
ng docks, with the cradle suspended
at the proper depth, are pro-
" ater is admitted into the COM
1artments, the docks are sunk, the cradle
s hOisted until it fits closely under the {
-essel's keel, the water is elected from
he docks, which are lifted by the buoy
ncy OF the atmosphere, and the ship is {
with them TO the proper hight to ]
the bar or other obstruction, and the {
'essel is again left to float 10 sufficient I
The process is simple, easy and '
InfailinR. 1
WATER ROUTES INVALUABLE. .
Chicago pays twenty dollars per ton :
for railroad freights from New York /
han she would IL shipments we're made .
New Orleans, and thence by river to =
heir destination, It would cost l4c per :
ushel less TO deliver corn In Liverpool :
3 water from Memphis than to deliver q
In New York. This fact, OF itself, \
all instructions at the Bslize are h
9moVed, will turn down the Mississippi q
be entire wheat and corn crop of the 4
Vest. There is no new idss here devel- :
ped. Every dollar of the millions 4
'asted in lighting against win and tide, h
nd the sleepless processes OF deposition r
y the swelling hoOds of the Mississippi, n
as been expended IN the vain effort to y
estrOy an 6arthWOrk beneath the waves +,
lore rapidly than the sea and tempests Il
an upbuild it. Five IONS per second of a
savy RlIuvisi matter are swept INTO the 4
ulf, snd driven backward by the y
inds and hBaped up by the t~ireless 4,
ayes. Mons muscles and those of :,
and steam toll against these =
lightly agencies OF nature in vain. Men 4
eep, the fires burn low, machinery ).
worn out, but the Mississippi knows no Il
and the oceans pillows no repose.
INFINIrUDE OF cons WISDOM. T
It was not designed that the laws of n
sture in this behalf should be thwsrted. ~
ars are placed 1t the mouths Of rivers to :.
the too rapid outflow, and thus -
70 too rapid draining Of the country. I
iAADA " - IA D1AnaAE WNGA1 ASoU kAo a.
of evaporation, and equal rainfall ~
each month OF the year would be inn y,
We would have a wet and dry ~
ssOn, and the production Of cotton % ~
Guild be impossible. There Is a canal ~
rty miles In length at the mouth of the ~
lie, dug to got over the bar. Since the ~
Of H~erodotus, 300 years sgo, the bed 81
the Nile has risen seventeen feet, ~
ithin 1000 yesrs, il Sir Charles Lyell I
are not at fault, the delta at the Baliza ~
n be extended 800 miles into the Gulf ne
of s%uHpendiug or fighting natures ~
vs. in vain, it were infinitely wiser ~
obey Gods behests and submit to ma ~
res DEGREES. Let US lift vessels up ~
nd rather than dig bars downward; let
cheapeu the worlds bread and bless III
q enrich mankind; let the breadstufTs ~
the West DO cheaply lifted over the ~
3mingly self-creative obstruction below ~
w Orleans, and the artisan and labor8r -
remOtest nations wOuld have reason
because Of matchless triumphs M
engineering. genius and skill ~,
"AN AwFuL BORE, " orc
each session Of Congress, is the ever su,
ting Appropriation bill, for deepening lol
mouth of the Mississippi, and at this we
.ment an United States steamer, with a tor
screw projected below, moves msies- wa
ally and stupidity back aud forth across tos