The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-04-12
The Bessemer Saloon-A Remedy for Ses
Sickness


Every day brings us neEs of the building of
improved ocean steamships. The saloons and
staterooms are furnishedfike palaces, but as yet
no amount of comfort REORGANIZATION has kept
away sea sickness, and ne mlserles attendant on
it. Three-fourths of ayoyage of any length we
make UP our minds will be nauseous and the
remainder ANYTHING hut pleasure. But the mis-
cries that are suffered IN the short voyage of two
hours in crossing theEnglish Channel continue to
/ be such that no am1unt OF experience can make
I them bearable. Among those who have set their
minds to work in England to find a remedy is Mr..
! Bessemer. who bs invented a saloon which is to
swing in the sntre Of the hull of a ship as a
| COMPASS on ~itssimbals. No matter how the hull
NAV roll, pitcl and tumble among the waves the
saloon will aways keep its equilibrium, and the
passenger Yithin it may walk or sit as steadily
as he does in his own house, or in a railway
carriage. "A working model was inspected in Mr..
Bessemers grounds recently by a large party of
we'll kuIwn and scientific men. By machinery
the buy which contained the saloon was made to
initiate all the motions of a ship in a rough sea.
The olling motion was not at all felt and the
pitcIing movement would also be neutralized in q
shi, having sufficient length of keel. The exper-
iuent was considered so satisfactory that no doubt
vas entertained that passengers will be able
hereafter to traverse the sea with ease and COM
fort. The following is the technical description
which was supplied to Mr.. Bessemer's guests
A steamship to be fitted with the improved
saloon has been designed by Mr.. E. j. Reed, G. B.
To ensure longitudinal stability, and thus coun-
teract the effects of pitching, an increased length
has been adopted, and the vessel will accordingly
be $50 feet long, with As feet deckbeam, and 65
feet over her paddle-boxes, and when fully loaded
will only draw seven feet SIX inches of water;
thus enabling her to use the present shallow har-
Dor accommodation on both sides of the channel.
As the position in the centre OF the ship generally
occupied by the engines will be devoted to the
saloon, the former will be placed fore and aft,
o-I ,r;lI J-;ra trrO airS Of paH6Ia-ThaaIS ITar
engines will be Of $50 horse power nominal. in
dicating up to 4 900 horsepower, by which it is
expected a speed of 20 miles an hour will be
attained. To enter and quit existing harbors
without the necessity of turning, the vessel will
be double-ended, and a well appointed cabin for
second-class passengers will be fitted at each end.
At the two extremities the ship will have a very
low freebOard, so that she may cut through the
waves instead Of rising TO them. This freeboard
will take up about so feet at either end, thus
reducing the total length of the vessel on which
the wind can exert its force to about $50 feet.
The saloon, in which is comprised the grand object
of Mr.. Bessemer's invention, will, as before
stated, be placed in the centre of the vessel and
at points in a line with the keel. 1t
be 20 feet in length, 80 feet IN width, 20 feet
in height, and carrying on the top a promenade
deck at q height Of seven feet above the ordinary
deck of the vessel. While striving TO subdue the
slightest possible motion and TO overcome various
the comfort Of passengers has not been
forgotten. The saloon will be well lighted and
and will be fitted at each end with
four principal rooms for ladies and four for gen.
tlemen, where the promenade deck will be acces-
sible at all times by means of a broad staircase
from all motion. This suspended saloon will
be governed by a set of powerful hydraulic appa-
ratus beneath it, and 80 arranged that as the
vessel rolls to either side the pressure or resist
ance afforded by the water is at once brought into
use to check the motion. a pair of equilibrium
valves actuated by a double lever, like the handle
IF a hicicle. at which stands r steersman. who, !