The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-09-30

The fact now comes out that tho boiler
OF the steamboat Adclphi was n rotten.
patchcd-up affair, and that its explosion was
only a question of time.
Why was not this fact asccrtancd before
in season to prevent the calamity Of last
Saturday Now that dozen lives have
been lost. the information about the boiler
comes rather late in the day. II will not
bring the dead back to life, or ease the pain
Of the scaldcd and bruised survivors.
Early In the season, rumors got out that
the Adelphi was unsafe. They reached the
ears OF the owners agent, and he thought
them of enough importance TO print rcas-
suring cards TO the public in the South
Norwalk newspaper In these he said that
the Adclphi had been greatly strength
ened in the spring. and that in June she had
been taken out on dry dock, thoroughly OK
amined from stem to stern, and pronounced
all right. One card closed as follows:
1T may be stated that on the 2,th dav Of June ,ony
month ago the rnici States steamboat inspectors
thoroughly examined the Adephi in part not ony
her hull but her boilers engines and fittings anil their
certificate. under oath /. record in the Government
once at Washington. certifying that the Adclphi Is
sound and In good condition. and IN every respect In con
ormiiy 20 the laws OF the United States and bears the
sea- " the nation
official signature Of JoHN W. BLAKE, In
spector of Boilers for the District and State
of New York. Three months ago according
to Mr.. BLAKE, the boiler was all right, pro-
vidcd the pressure was not increased be-
yond the limit of 40 pounds of steam TO
the square inch.
Was it all right? The experts examined
on Saturday testify that II was all wrong
No .,ft Inn, ~, In lao,
any practical man would have seen at once
that it was unsafe; the patching, moreover,
had done more hurt than good. Another
expert told a reporter that the thickness
was AL the way from next to nothing at
all to one-siXtecnth OF an inch" The iron
about the bolt holes was found to be badly
| corroded.
We repeat that these discoveries come
altogether too late. The public has reason
to ask, as II has the right to know whether
the inspection Of steamboat boilers, as at
present conducted in this district, is Of any
| practical value.
In Brooklyn. on Saturday, there was
| another so-called accident. A locomotive
on the surface steam railroad in Atlantic
avenue crashed into a hack forming part Of
a funeral procession. Two of the persons
in it We're killed outright; another Of them
has since died another lies at the point II
death; a fifth il in hospital two escaped
with slight hurts. In this case no blame
attaches 10 the tagman on duty at the
| crossing, who seems to have done his whole
| duty like Il brave fellow. So far 40 appears,
the engineer Is equally blameless. The con-
duct ~ the driver in forcing his horses for
| ward across the track, in spite ~ the Efforts
| Of the ilagman TO keep them back looks
very much like the obstinacy and reckless
ness of drunkenness, but his friends declare
that he was a sober man. He expated his
fault or his mscalculation with his life.
| But the point is, that II there had been
| properly constructed gate, properly closed,
at that crossing on Saturday the driver
would have been kept out Of tho way Of the
engine and both he and his passengers
would have been alive to-day
| The excuse il put forward In behalf OF the
company that gates cost money, and that it
| is too poor to put them at all the crossings
all al once. 1t is for the proper Brooklyn
authorities to decide which Is Of tho more
consequence-the lives OF men and women
or the dividends OF tho company. There
ought not to be any doubt as to the decision.
A railroad corporation too poor 10 take ordi-
nary precautions against such occurrences
as that of Saturday is too poor to have the
right Of way through and across the streets
| Of great city.