The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-09-09


tors and Law Foremcn A startling story
that II Told by n Practical Mechanic.
In 1868 the boilers OF United states
eunboat, anchored on the Battery, exploded,
and twenty-aeven OF her crew perished. Her
boilers were made In shop favored by a welt.
known Government official, and | worked on
them Every man that struck them with ham
mer knows that they were not strong enough to
take the vessel TO Sandy Hook. The foreman
was driver and he sail lie din't care a damn
whether they lasted that he wanted to get
them out Of the shop NJ soon a. possible, and
that he supposed anything was good enough Tor
the navy. Although the men know that II was
equal to committing murder in the first decree,
they let the nlnQe 60 ont In an utterly unser-
viccahe condition, because they feared that "
i'oy spoke about IL they might he dis
charged. The Inspector tested the boil
been carefully made. although he knew
that they were bad work and worse iron: and
Il G boss saved few dollars through the fore
mnn's Lack ~ principle. Twenty-seven lives,
however, were the cost Of this economy. Soon
hfterwafd two boilers were constructor for the
steamship Empire State, in the same shop. Two
months afterward they burst and killed three
men. When think Of the west1ed exclusion
inquest that followed II, not one boiler maker
was called to the witness chair. There were a
great MANY boiler makers eager to testify, and
any one Of them could have shown Messrs.
Haswell, Copeland. SiRhtall. and the other great
the sat lave 9d 1s@ S"s ssS
iron, bad work, and an INSCRIPTIONS foreman
should have been the verdict When the Dean
Richmond burst her flinge head year or
ago, her passengers, though they did not know
It, were on the brink OF watery grave. The
cause OF the disaster was a soft patch unskil-
what ia a soft patchi Us that what YOU
asked sir-my mate and are Kind ~ deaf, slr,
nlong OF working so long among boilers, and
don't alw1ys hear as wei as | would like to.)
soft patch Is a bit Of iron fastened with
~ IN az hfalN sIuNH lnaN IFaratT hua
to be renewed at the end OF every THO Some
times " rots out sooner, and then II becomes
necessary TO renew II at sea. III the ship b ~
ONLY one boiler. she must Law to {; but II she has
two boilers. sho can use on Will the other Is
being patched. Three-fOurths of the steamships
that O. out OF this port hold boilers that
can SC rce'y contain water on account Of
them. A law forbdding the use Of soft
patches near nre IS In existence, but they
are even put In the bottom OF the boiler
When any part Of a boiler Is found to be weak
the entire section to which 1t belongs ought to
be taken out and replaced with new one.
This operation engages several competent men
for two or three days, but almost any man IN
put on asoft patch In a few hours. OF course
the first job is more costly than the second, but
the former tnsures safety for time, while the
latter Is a pitiabie makeshift that may occasion
an explosion at any moment.
" The Crescent City was near going to the hot
tom few months ago, on account OF bad work
gines. Last month the boiler Of the Silas o.
Pierce, n towboat. exploded in the North river,
anu one OF ner crew Was klued AND Two Others
were dislgured for life In the last two IN
1T inces the engineers were not blamabe they
rarely are. IL boiler Il properly constructed,
that Is to say. II II Is OF good iron, put together
by skilled men working under a scrupulo ~ and
capable foreman, all the engineers IN the United
states cannot explode ~. Even Mr.. Copeland,
with the aid Of $4,000 OF the peoples money to
use IN the experiment, and the experience that
he acquired on the jersey coast, could not do ".
Nine boilers, though. out Of every ten are shod-
dy boilers. could ZANE new ships into whose
boilers soft patches were put after the trial trp.
AT al cd nt ar flfrnt
TO serve at least two years before requiring re-
pairs. IL the testimony OF boiler makers IL
sought when Coroner II Investigating an ex-
3losion. the verdict will not be a complete
WhiteWashinQ"