New-York tribune., 1874-03-14
STEAM ON THE CANALS.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

BY STEAM TO HORSE 30 ATs-GREAT ADVANTAGES
TO BE OBTAINED IL THE TRANSPORT OF GRAIN.
The enlarged Erie and Oswego Canals carry boats
that with their cargoes weigh from $50 to 29j tons
each, the boats when not loaded weighing from -
to % tons. Many of the advocates of the enlarge
ment of these canals expected that steam would be
the principal power used in their navigation, and
IRON time to time various attempts were made to
introduce steam and make it more ecOnom-
zeal than animal power These attempts
proved failures, except when applied to some
special service, as running packet from
Syracuse to Fulton, partly in canal and partly in
the slatk-water navigation Of the Oswego River.
The general result was to lead the best friends of
the canals nearly to despair of any successful of
steam on boats carrying cargoes so small against
thc competition of the fast-moving railroad ear on
the ono hand and on the other the cheapy man
aged horse-boat, which lived the owner and his
tamily-makng captain, cook, and all hands inter
ested in the most economical, though slow move
ment of heavy property that did not require great
dispatch. Any goods that could pay largely went by
rail for the advantages of speed while property that
must be sent at very small price, not go, went
by the slow-moving horse-boat.
Let us inquire into the causes Of the failure of
steam, having the advantages of the facts deter
mined by the late trials. made under the authority
of the State. to guide our investigation.
CAUSE OF FAILURES OF STEAM.
The idea of using powerful steamboat to tow
barges, and thus by passing over the canal but once
convey eight or nine hundred tons of cargo, using
hut one engine, and thereby reducing the expense
of engineers 10 the lowest pOint-ths idea made so
strong an impression that it was not abandoned
until fully tested by years Of trial. and it had been
found that the time consumed in passing the barGes
through the locks was too great a detention, and
that too lttle was saved by employing but few men
to make up for the loss Of time.
A strange error was very general in the public
mind in regard to injuries that might result TO the
banks of the canals by giving boats speed of three
miles an hour. This false notion probably had its
origin in the observations made the packets that
carried passengers before railroads became general
The long narrow, light packet moving top of the
water at the rate of four or five miles per hour
IN the small canals of the days before enlarge
mcnt, did produce considerable swell that
looked rs though it was doing much more
injury than it really lid. This entirely imagin-
aTy difficulty led inventors to spend large sums
and much time in devisng some new thing to drive
the boats A ishs tail, bats wing or perhaps
goose's foot, in the imagnatons of mere inventors
would furnish the propeng instrument, to which,
steam once applied, success, thev fondly imagined
would be certain. Other and more rational men
lacked capital or sufficient inducement to make the
trials and experiments that their sornd judgments
said would be necessary before the highest
could be reached. SO the effort TO use steam as
motive power on the canals lad nearly been aban-
doned. and hope hardly remained, when in 1S11 the
Legislature passed law Offering 100000 TO whom
ever should make steam a success on the canals,
and appointed ten Commissioners to test any device
offered and to make the award. if it should be
earned. On this Commission was placed the then
State Engineer and the three Canal Commissioners.
together with eX-GOv Seymour twho, however,
declined to act aud Gen. George B. Mcclellan, who
has never attended meeting of the Commission.
With these officials and dignitare> were associated
four other men-GOy. Seymours place having been
filed by the Governor. The Actin. Commissioners
were Van H. Richmond. George W. Chapman, john
d. Fay, William W. Wright, David Dows, Erastus
S. Prosser, George Gcddes, Willis $, Nelson, and
Daniel Grouse.
These Commissioners took the oath Of Office and
entered upon the discharge Of their duties and to
enable them TO learn all the facts aud to carry ont
their plans for a full test of steam the canals,
they appointed David VI. Greene civil and mechan-
ica engineer. He had much service in the Navy
of the United States during the war as naval en-
gineer. Three seasons of navigation taken for
the work and in October last the final "test trial
exhibition" provided for by the law, made be-
tween Utica and Syracuse. The following were the
results obtained at this trial exhbtion:"
THE BAXTER SYSTEM.
The ONLY boat that at the trial exhibition made the
speed required by the law. of three miles per hour,
loaded with 200 tons of cargo was the boat William
Baxter. This was accomplished with very small
expenditure of fuel-ess than - pounds Of coal per
mile from Syracuse TO Utica
The boat Baxter designed ANA built expressly TO
compete for the reward offered by the State, and is
therefore purely experimental onat entirely uulise
the Erie caual-boat. Hor dmenslOns and
weight are follows: Length, % feet inches; breadth,
II feet; depth OF hold, feet weight, including machn-
cry aud water the bOiler. 81 2-lD tons. Her
bottom perfectly nat, and her sides, stem and stern
ton bottom ny five aud nall feet draft.
Above this her sIdcs are carried out. forming
hang Tue S e on g om 1 pon 10
distant feet from both stem and seru curves Of 80
feet rad. Thr Of the BaxtcI's bottom is 1,OS0s
square fCet( Engineers Report Tor 1873. Senate DJcu.
nent II, page as
Mr.. Baxter having used this boat two seasons. con-
sructed another called the City of New York, having
the same general model of hull only little larger
CARRYING 30 tons cargo aud driven by single pro-
peller. which has about the same amount of working
surface as have the two used on the boat Baxter.
The same class of machinery is used in both boats,
viz upright tubular boilers and compound condens-
ing engines The City of New-YOrk was not finished
in time to take part in the rest exhibition but ap
peared on the canal few days afterward, and made
one round trip TO Buffalo from New-York-demOn-
strating that she superior in power and capacity
to carry cargo to the Baxter and more simple in
machinery though in no essential particular de,
parture from the first boat. Having machinery OF
fifty horsepower, the City of New-York can go
faster on canals and rivers and by an expenditure of
little more fuel can very much excel the Baxter.
Mr. Baxter appears to have acted simply with
view tn'solye the mechanical problem and snccess-