Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-03-16
A Novel Steamship.

In q new steamboat now buildino mn
on the Hudson, an attemnt Is
made to produce a boat that shall IL
sef-righting, that shall be verv 70 ~
and that can not sink unless ent;ra1.,,
torn to pieces. The boat is comnara
lively small, as it is intended onln e.
an experimental or model boat. r.
cessful, it is intended to bnild &C.,
steamships upon the same principle T,
appears that the inventors aim ;s ~
make self-righting boat by carrv;no
the sides over the deck in the form of 8
dome. The side frames are made con.
tinuous and meet over the center of the
hull, or, in other words, the frames he.
gin at one side of the keel, rise directI,
at an angle of about forty-five degrees
to the water-ine, and then curve in
ward over the deck and back ON tho
same lines to the keel. A section of the
hull taken in the center is TINS Of a
wedge shape, with sharp edge below
and rounded top, above. This wedoe
form is preserved through the entire
length of the hull. There are no holIou
lines in the boat, and the sharp. over.
hanging bow is intended to part the
water near the surface and to form a
long, tapering wedge. The widest mart
OF the hull is exactly at the middle, both
ends being precisely alike. This is quite
different from the fiat bottom and
straight sides, with comparatively bluff
or rounded bows, of the ordinary ocean
steamship. The boat is intended to be-
much deeper aft than forward, and the
deck will be much higher above water
at the bows than at the stern. There
will be no houses or raised construc
lions of any kind on the deck, except
the dome-shaped pilot-house, the ven
tilators and the smoke-stacks. There
will be an open railing around the center
of the deck, so that it can be used as a
promenade in pleasant weather or
whenever the seas do not break over
the boat
The object of this unbroken DOME
shaped deck is to enable the boat to
throw off all waves that break over the
bows or sides in rough weather. 1t is
thought that, instead of shipping tons of
water and retaining it on deck till it can
be drained off, the boat will shed or
throw off the water from the long, sharp
bows and open deck, and will at once
relieve herself of the weight of the wa
ter. Waves striking the rounded deck
will have no hold on the boat, and their
force will thus be spent harmlessly. The
sharp wedge-shape and rounded top of
the hull, and the fact that even when
fully loaded the center of gravity will be
below the water-line, makes the mo del
self-righting. From experiments with
small model, this claim of the inventor
seems to be clearly proved. In laying
out the boat, only the spar deck will be
used for passengers, the main deck and
all below being intended for cargo, coal
and engines The state-rooms will be
arranged along the outside, each room
having port in the side of the boat,
while the ceiling will be formed of the
curved deck above. The saloons will be
the whole width of the ship, and on the
spar deck. For lighting the saloons
there will be sky-lightsin the center, and
as these in rough weather may be COW
cred by the seas that sweep over the
deck, they will be very strong, and will
be air-tight. To secure ventilation there
will be steam-fans, kept in motion at all
times, and maintaining a good circula-
ton through every part of the boat. For
this purpose the fresh air will be taken
through wind-sails on the deck, and the
exhaust air from the rooms will be turn
ed into the blast used in forcing the boil
err fires. No boats are to be carried on
deck; the life RATS and boats will be
kept in an apartment under the domed
deck at the stern, and when they are to
be launched, doors will be opened in the
deck and the boats launched in the usual
wav from the davits through these doors.
The pilot-house will be at the bows, and
will be entirely inclosed. 1t will not
rise much above the deck, and will be
entered from below.
There will be no masts or sails, as it
is intended to depend entirely on the en-
gines for propulsion. In constructing
the hull, to secure great strength, three
heavy trusses or ''hog frames" are to
be placed on the keel, each one risingto
the spar deck and securely fastened to
the side frames of the boat. The cell
ing will be double, and placed diagonal
ly on the frames. In the larger steam
ships, the absence of sailing power will
be compensated for by two extra en-
gines and two supplementary screws,
that can be employed in case the
larger screw is lost or the main engines
break down.-"The Worlds Work" IN
The Century Magazine.