The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-02-19
13FllgT9i1gfS BdFSts
MR. EDITOR I hg recent explosion Of the

Mr.. EDITOR: Fhs recent 'e2ploslon VI Ine
locomotive, Fort fiff,- ON the Greenyille and
GoIpHaa6aia RI RsiEosad is id,spS At time con-
siderable Idscussios Mithosevaref strietnre, Ola
thsssa that ragd aRd altho
tfaasindicialsinycstigation entirely enerated
the officers in charge, yet, as Che accident re-
suited in the death 81 an Old and faithful en-
ppye. Ell sMeh enough ponder lilttls upon
the, subj consider the causes 'efisnch
esplosi5ns aud their remedies More frequent
examinations of.rollipg stock should be made,
gfeae cate taken not to overload and strain old
and worn machinery, rand the most stringent
rules given 10 sdnaefs to leokmbre closely after
theiar doeomotiyss., We send you an article ilE9
sloms1sublAioals, Joarnul, ,cpfa Feb,- 1872, which
hhaystnra attention to this suBjecss -"7
sri; e 9vsg FfiTW I.1iGR 1t-GW - ytiifuEF FF:Tj:
SIG sahT ...tIi,iii,d u 3-s, eht III G%f1n ,.f2:;
a5Thsrs- Isl an impression among intelligent
persons thas steam explosions are efter aae to
mysterious if not unpreventabfe causesf An
account ina weekly Journal Of some recent ex-
periment Upon this subjectdeclared that, fto
the astonssknent fsthe experimenters,Y' seer
eaiR bsilessSseal In the Investigation blew up
"under very low pressure of steam" The
causes of suck losions are, indeed, not gen.
erallyy yknowHsy But tol Feaaeis. who live in a
country ewhere steam explosions are subject
efrsach serious oimpertanee to the rpublie las
they are withthis,. "a brief and concise explana.
siono Of the main causes Of these explosions
ear hardly faiFto be of. Interest. Such an ac-
count. freed from from technicalties, We propose to
giyein the present paper. Among other forms
Of explosion, we shall. show how, on the oRe
hand; an openepan of boiling water may ex-
piode fatally and how, on the other a boiler
Wisho9ea single drop Of water in it may be
sbattsfe fragments thea the action tl Y of heat
ri. Ths 6rst and and simplest cause Of boiler ex-
plosians;h hfreqnent though it is, need, not long
detainus.d ct Isl the gradual increase of steam
pressunei-as I'M the case efiracing steaGlboats,
safety valve TO point Beyond the, power Of
the Boiler to- resist ,Ih; q. :well.made boiler
such explosions require an enormous force
one thatis much greater than that under which
the boiler is designed to work. MI. Fairbairn
concluded, from his experiments, that one Of
tbe. .Iow-pressure boilers which he burst. could
NOT have given way at 8 pressure OF less than
three hundred and fifty pounds to the square
snch. IL Explosions of this sort are, more than
a1Iy other, due to inexcusable carelessness, if
mot too wHantonuess id taking risks, as in the
case that ,We have mentioned. .l,gA.,...,, -
q. Unequal expansion in the boIfer, caused
bv low water, or by the accumulation of min
eral scaleT0r sediment upon parts of its inner
sfirface., is fertile cause Of explosion Under
such conditions there may be difference of
two hundred degrees or more Fahrenheit BE-
tween the temperature of the fues. and! Of the
hoiler-shell; and the unequal expansion of the
5isstai thus caused is. .enong b to rupture the
@oaehess iron. LAS ALREADY stated, this may
hsbpeh without the pressure ofAsteam to aid It,
Near GSand, Rapids, Michigan, a boiler twenty
feetlong was opened for the purpose OF clean
ing the, aues. The man. intrustedl with, this
II1iiy inserted an arnful<o of shavings in either
sehti3G each of the, two fues, and set them on
fire. hoping to loosen the Sinerastations upon
fFIems + In tfiis manner. But presently, by the
aTnansionH q of the fues, the whole head of the
boiler was sssblown' off and driven through the
walls of the building iatos the adjoining held
AL American, engineer Nh. w Wiardy claims to
have devised a;iretheda of keeping every part
~ alSoffer At; the same temperature, and SO of
oro;d;nc ali explosions from, unequal ,,expan-
ss;ons. but we must. not Stop here to- explain it.
:; aoExnlosiens caused byo the b" "repulsion of
Ets Vtatara are osIspeciat interest because thay
Torm one class of the so-ealled mysterious ex-
missions. In these cases no excessive pressure
Sf steatn Or heat of fires is, apparent; the
ga; a;nses stand st. TIER e usual leSei and yet
ThiIethere s,no sign .of; ;danget, 2 frightful ex-
1ulosiou fnay occur, as il sopenew end dIrreslss-
tshlS ey,ertiy iyepei liberated within the fated
sbn;Isf SSach is. indeed Shelcase, though it is
M nav oeeSbTosive compound, generated by the
nnresancs 9f oil OF Contemporaries IN the water,
as some engineers have argued, that does the
'mischi eases. some part OF The
ct6iles below the water-leVel has become heafed
zoe higher degree than the water above It,
The result is, that the water is repelled from
The meta, and thin, ilm Of steam n 1nteryeMnes Int M
betweenn tie two bodies. In this condition,
,sSh;cS, Is inown as, the "spheroidaI state" the
iron NAV become -intenseay bet, while theMater
1reulaii parativelyo cool. But NOW tee any
1tcaauseas, a; strong circulation Of the water IN
affie, boiler. where it lashes around under the
Gercse be Heat and pressure like tortured animal
o.-foVea It, into contact with the red-hDt metal
s&r, ir1nneaseeyolsm of steam is Instantly gep-
-erated: il stdhrows" the water above itwith toe
ensrsy ofc bullets before an exploding charge
of nowder. and the force of this tremendous
steam:h han6mer IS sufficient to skater the top Of
.the strongest boiler in use, These terrible ex-
,Diosions are apt to 4ecsuf at the moment or
5sthrtine a Locomotive or marine, engine, .'When
-tleeeseape lis ishut down and the pressure rs
suddenly increased To prevent them, IT. Is
tGnoecesssafy TO make sure that the hfes are or
Uniform heat, thr oug ghout their whole extent so
as to avoid excessive heating in any part Of the
.hoiIer,n and also to avoid any too sudden in-
.crease,j ,jeven though it he aislight one) of the
.nressare I'M hersoiier. o'a, I'D i.n' -. -
In the last. class of explosions 70 be con-
s;idered there Is The same shattering of the up
I nsr mart of the she'll of the boiler as in those
that M weh have just desctibed, But they are at
Srss I sisht more mysterious than those, for in,
chem 10 evidence can bssfoand that any part
of the boiler has been st all overheated ana,
10 makgt the surprise still greater, thsyi occur
@ Of the sassf ss and while cVs yet
-they are .of the most frightful violence. r'''.
As. nfider the subject of "unequal expan-
81 sion" Ne have described explosions that may
take place, without any steam, SO now we have