Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-10-07
~DEFECTIvE BOILERa.
sensible Words from a Practical Nan
on the Causes OF stenln0oaa
Explosions.

EDITORS APPEAL-Our railroad COM
Danies are securing the services OF the
best practical boller-makeTs to do their
boiler-Work. They only use the best
brands of boiler iron that is made ia the
construction orrepair Of their locomotive
boilers. They will employ only first
class mechanics for their master-me-
chanics. Let a practical man go into
one of these railroad bOiler-sbops, and
they VIII find that the work is done in
the best possible manner, for strength
and durability. II q sheet OF iron or q
iange is defective, il Is returned to the
manufacturer who furnished 1t. This is
done for economy and safety. Let me
take YOU. gentle reader, into a marine
I boiler-shop that. builds boilers for u
Western rivers and lakes. We will first
examine the boiler-plate hat Is used in
this class OF boilers, and you generally
will find IL the poorest quality that
the Boiler Inspector viii receive. At the
same time, the proprietor Of this So
called boiler-shop complains about the
high price Of boiler iron. five noticed
punching machine in operation, we
find an old punch in use that strains the
iron, that not only breaks the skin Of
the iron but breaks the fibers and
strains the iron to such an extent that
when the boiler has been in use a short
time it viii break from hole to hole, in
the seam, and cause serious damage and
frequently loss of life; yet, the boiler
may only be under an ordinary pressure
Of steam. We nov will go to the fiange
fire and witness the process of fiangeing
theheads Of these boilers. We o see
a defect in the hot iron and inquire of
the workman if the Boiler Inspector
viii receive such iron, his reply is, che
seldom comes here; there is too much
dust and smoke, and he only examines
the boiler after it is finished, then these
cracks and flaws are out of sight" We
now will notice them fitting the work to-
gether. 1t is often the case that the
sheets are not drawn down to an edge
where n sheet fits over the other, and
a tool is used to break down the sheet
and force the work together, by this,
the sheet is often broken and the defect
is concealed with the hammer. We
next will notice the rivetlng, the punch
ing being dene by an unskillful work
man, the holes do not come opposite
each other, and the riveter is
holes, he is compelled to use the
uALL-Bm anu nCdNg Adi4ntI W iOICt
them apart, and often fractures the iron
by so doing. We inquire of the foreman
if they employ first-class workmen in
building these boilers. Mark his reply:
''These are only for a steamboat, and
almost any sort Of men will do to build
them, but we keep a better class of
workmen for repairs. 1 have shown the
various defects in building these marine
boilers, and many of them are nearly
worthless when they leave the shop.
When n of these worthless boilers
bursts, the cry is GLOW water" s'negli-
gent engineer" or anything else to
shield the builder Of this engine Of de-
struction.
Twill suggest a remedy to prevent this
wholesale slaughter: Let Congress at its
next session revise the marine Boiler
Inspecting Law as l stated in my
last letter. Let it require competent,
practical men for Boiler Inspectors,
and require not less than two Of
the Board of Supervising Inspectors
TO be practical boiler-makers Of long ex-
perienee. Let them require the Boiler
Inspector to keep constant watch over
all marine boilers when they are build
ing. Let the law compel builders to
notify the Boiler Inspector when they
are to commence a marine boiler, and
allow no boiler to be put in use on a
steamboat unless it has been built under
the supervision of a Boiler Inspector, |
who is a practical man. A. p.