Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-09-23

A New Departure in Naval Architecture
The Ressemer Channel Steamer--Descrip-
ton of Il New Vessel Intended 90 Run
Between Dover and Calais-.A Suspended
Saloon.
More than ordinary attention, says
the London Standard of August 9th,
is just now being turned to Hull as
ship-building port, in consequence of
an experiment which is shortly to be
made with view Of diminishing the
d1scomforts to passengers that usually
attend a voyage across the channel.
Schemes without number have been
propOunded, but hitherto without sue
cess, to solve this difficult problem,
though engineers have We'd with each
other in the endeavor to remove this
great obstacle in the way Of commune
cation between England and the CONT
nent. For years past we have had con-
stantly cropping out suggestions and
plans by which the Dover straits might
be either tunneled or bridged over, but
none of these far-fetched ideas have
been put into practical shape, and tray
elers to and from the French ports have
had to put up with all the miseries and
Inconvenience to which those suscepti-
BILE to the qualms of sea-sickness are
heirs. The shallow harbors on the
opposite coast preclude all the am
bilious attempts put forth to improve
the means Of transit by steamers; and
at length, the visions of submarine
tubes having melted into thin air, the
public had almost become reconciled to
the idea that the present facilities
available for ''crossing the silver streak
or sea were about as perfect
as they could be made. About
two years ago, however, a care
full weighing up of all these con-
slderations led to the produc-
ton OF plan by which the disagreed
bic features of a channel voyage could
be reduced to minimum, and the sue
cess or failure of the scheme will be
made known in the course of very
few weeks. On visiting Earl's ship
building yard at Hull, we were fortu-
nate in meeting Mr.. E. J. Beed, M. P,
who, with the overseer of the Bessimer
Saloon Steamer Company, Mr. j.
Richards, and the manager of the
works, Mr.. Laslett, was engaged in
making an inspection of the ship.
Through the courtesy of these gentle
men we are enabled to place before our
readers an outline of the general
features and construction of the vessel,
which it is expected will leave the
stocks in about month for her trial
trip between Dover and Calais. Her
length is $50 feet, and she has q width
OF 40 along the deck beam, and IS
across the paddle boxes. To the unin-
itiated observer she presents the ap-
pearance of a turret ship, having her
ends low for the purpose of reducing
the motion produced by the action of
the wind and sea, while the middle por-
ton is sufficiently high to enable her
to steam at q great speed against the
worst seas she will have to meet. The
main portion of the vessel is 252 feet
long, and the low ends are each 48 feet
IN length, but in case of the water
rushing over these the ends of the up
per deck are constructed like the PROV
OF an ordinary vessel, and are thus
adapted for clearing the water and
throwing it on one side. Being nearly
flat bottomed, and drawing only seven
feet SIX inches of water, she will be pro-
PEELED by her two sets of paddle
wheels at speed of twenty miles an
hour, while her light draught will ena-
bic her to enter the shallow French
harbors, which would be inaccessible
to vessels ofgreater depth. Moreover,
the provision of a rudder at each end,
with means for locking, will enable the
ship to be steamed in either direction,
and obviate the necessity of turning in
harbor. The peculiar feature of the
vessel, however, and upon the result Of
which so much depends, is the saloon,
designed by Mr.. Bessemer, OF Denmark
Hill, London, the object Of which is to
lessen, if not altogether to remove, the
inconvenience at present suffered by
voyagers. This saloon is suspended in
the midst Of the ship in such a way
that it can be moved about longitu-
dinal axis parallel to the keel. The mo-
tion of this sal Don, which would be set
up If left free to move, will be governed
by hydraulic apparatus, and will be
completely under the control
OF one man, whose dnty it
will be to keep the floor Of the
saloon, under all circumstances, in
line with spirit level. The Besse-
mer saloon is 70 feet long, 35 feet wide,
and 20 feet high, and accommodation
will also be provided for passengers in
fixed cabin ffty-two feet long at one
end, between decks and line of small
cabins on each side of the ship, between
the paddle-boxes. There will also be
refreshment saloon, smoking cabin,
lavatories, and small deck cabins in
fact, every conceivable convenience and
comfort is provided for those who I'm
dertake a journey by these means. AS
originally designed, we understand it
was not intended to call into requisition
any aid to the four enormous paddle
wheels by which the vessel will be pro-
PEELED; but very recently it has been
decided to fix light mast with sails at
each end, which will tend to improve
the appearance of the steamer, and
probably assist in securing that passivi-
ty among the channel waves which is
the chief aim of the designers. Speak
ing of this great essential quality Of the
vessel, namely, the avoidance of the
pitching and rolling motions, which are
the principal causes of seasickness, we
are bound to admit that, SO far as we