The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1872-04-20

he
sfppi Hiver--An Artificial shovel
nosed shark-Hox. 1t Looks an., How
II MOTHS
From the Cincinnati Enquirer,
Faith may remove mountains, but if
takes sterner metal to dig the boz
out OF the Mississippi River "a s'o e,n
mouth and keep it in navip~ eae It's
How to keep the Gulf e 60 - osaer.
great inland highwa- 80 sis''e5 10 TINS
internal improV - open mas been the
nav nav that II h. - eeAeas problem and the
the r,v - swallowed up millions of
Dire .sr and harbor appropriations.
~ace-boats of varied construction
cave been thus far found to be the most
efficient instrumentalities, and thev
have kept up their dredging, delving
away st the encroaching alluvium.
while genius has been wrestling with ali
sorts OF 1mpractlcable ideas and plans
Tor an Improvement on the dredge-boat
The difficulty that exists at the mouth
OF the Mississippi River is too well un-
derstood to require any detailed explain
alton. 1t IS simply this: The waters
OF the river with its tributaries drain an
area OF about }, 900, 900 of square miles
ut proxlmately, and the channels of all
these streams, stretched out in a con-
tlnuous line, would make trough over
p, 900 miles long Much of the region
through which these tributaries flow is
sandy. Some OF it is soft alluvium.
where the rains wash away their banks
and bear toward the sea their burden
OF earthly matter. Thus the great Mis-
slsslPpi, receiving all these contribu-
tIons Of sediment, presents a mass of
turhld, muddy water, boiling like a
caldron and sweeping along until
checked by the stationary water of the
Gulf Of Mexico, 1t drops it's freight of
sediment, as it were, right at the gate.
and the bars thus formed would, if NOT
cleared away by artificial means. effect
ualiy obstruct the passage OF vessels of
any considerable draft in and out
the river. How to counteract q
cumulating tendency is 100 'slie &C
There IS large '-.rsea I hoot P, nnm u:
work down t. 'se ooaG no" at
:, ~saoG IS progressing towards COM
e,ietlon, and viii probably depart for its
held OF operations IL about six weeks
or two months. Just the day before
last Thanksgiving Day angular look
ing craft slid FROM the ways at Steers
ward, Greenpolnt, Long Island, into
the East River. Many wondered what
u was intended for. In one respect it
was like tue ferry boats that is, it was
shaped alike at both ends. but 1t was
too deep and too unwieldy for that pur-
pose, and beside it was apparently in
tended TO nave propeller at both ends.
~ tflfa, it was unlike anything that
nay gates IN the waters around New
1ork. After being launched this stranee
vessel was towed across to the foot of
Ninth street, East River, where she is
receiving her machinery for peculiar
service. She IS nothing more nor less
than dredge boat, to be employed in
keeping the Mississippi's mouth open.
Her name has not vet been divulged
by the authorities at Washington, by
whose order the vessel is being built.
Tier length is Isl feet 8 inches,
depth q hold 80 feet, and about % feet
beam. The hull IS constructed of live
oas, red oak, and yellow pine. She
mas a screw at both ends-at the afte,
end one with three blades, II feet di
ameter, and IA feet pitch. for propelline
exclusively; the forward end is pro-
vIded with a screw also, but something
little different in its aspect. 1t has
SIX blades instead of three, and looks
like big whirligig. This screw, like
the one at the other end, is made OF
brass; It's diameter is the same, and ii
atone weighs $4,000 pounds The
blades are made separate, and the boat
carries extra blades, SO that, i'll the
event that any one should break, it
can be taken out and new one substi-
tutoi. The forward screw performs
two offices, viz that of impelling the
vessel through the water by a drawing
on process, and digging in the mud
ard sand. It is worked by two oscil-
lating engines, 40-inch bore by four
feet stroke, and will perform 90 or sc
revolutions per minute with 80 pounds
Of steam. The three bIaded propeller
IS driven by a single oscillatine engine,
the same size and power with the 9th
crs. The steam Is generated in five
tubular boilers, weighing 20 tons each.
These are situated amidship in the
bottom of the hold; the engines to
work the propeller are abaft the boil
ers, and those to work the forward
screw are forward of them. The shafts,
rs we'll as the other parts of the ma
chlnery, are ponderous, corresponding
with the nature of the work the boat is
to be employed at Besides the six
bladed screw for digging, there is also
large scoop or drag, IN the shape of a
half cylinder, made of three-eights inch
boiler iron, with heavy wrought iron
rims and piuions. 1t is Il feet deep
20 feet concave linear measure. and will
drag away ID tons of mud and sand at
load This scoop is suspended
from two strong davits overhanging
the digging end of the boat, and
Is managed by means of pair of pow
erful hosting engines forward. Sit
uated Immediately under the boilers
are the sinking tanks, of which there
are eight, each one capable of holding
eighty tons Of water. The actual draft
Of the boat Is ID feet, but with the
tanks filled it IS increased to % feet,
50 that she can remove stratum OF
mud eight feet thick. The mode OF
working IS this: The boat is first
driven, light, as far up on the bar or
bank as possible. Then the scoop or
drag, which hangs suspended from the
daylts, Is let go on the run. It's great
weight carries it far into the mud.
Then the big six-bladed screw is set in
motion, and at the same time the pro-
peller at the other end commences
whlrling, to pull the boat off The six
bladed propeller loosens up the mud,
and adds greatly to the impelling pow