The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-09-14
FINEST SHIP AFLOAT.
Description of the New White Star Line
Steamer Teutonic.
Considerable interest is taken


Steamer Teutonic.
Considerable interest is taken in
this city in shipping circles and
among those who have crossed the |
'herring pond' at different times as
to the result of the race between
four Of the transatlantic steamers,
which left New York for Liverpool |
on Wednesday.
The steamers are the Teutonic Of j.
the White Star Line, the City of
New York of the Inman, the SAKE of
the North German Lloyd, and the
City of Rome of the Anchor Line.
The general impression seems to be
here that the Teutonic, which made
such good time on her maiden trip
out to New York, will prove the
winner. The Teutonic is said to be
the longest, finest and safest ship
ahoat, and in view Of this the follow
ing details regarding her, taken
from the London Times of recent
date, cannot fail to be interesting:
THE SAFEST SHIP AFLoAT.
The vessel, says the Times, has
been built by Messrs. Harland q
Wolff for Messrs. Ismay, Imrie &
Co., and may be regarded as abso-
luteiy the safest ship afoat. She is
fitted with twin screws, and the
whole of the machinery, engines,
boilers and coal for working either
screws is shut off completely from
it's neighbor by fore and aft bulk
head, which extends from the after
end of the engine-rOom to the for
ward end of the foremost coal
bunker, and in fact intersects the six
largest of the twelve water tight
} compartments made by the ordinary
transverse buJkheads. This fore and
aft bulkhead is pierced by only one
locked door, the key of which Is
held by the chief engineer. The
doors between the engine-rooms and
.the stokeholes are in every instance
duplicated, and the duplicate door is
in every instance under the control
Of the captain on deck. When lib
Grated they close by their own
weight, but by an ingenious contrl-
vance their descent is freed from
violence. Ascending from the door
is a rod surmounted by piston,
which works in a cylinder four and
a half inches in diameter filed with
glycerine. When the door is al
lowed to descend the whole Of this
glycerine has to pass through a
half-inch hole in the piston, and the
sluggish liquid thus prevents a
rapid and dangerous descent of the
massive door.
WILL CLOSE AUTOMATICALLY
There is however another and more
interesting novelty about these doors.
In the event of water flowing into
the ship the doors will close auto
matically As the water rises in the
bilge it will buoy up hollow pis-
ton attached to a rod. This rod, on
being pushed up about foot, re-
moves the catch that holds the door,
and it might chance that the first
information Of danger in the engine
room would be the automatic clos
ing of these protective doors. The
principal is common enough. 1t is
merely an adaptation of the domes-
tic ball cock; but, assuming the
buoyancy sufficient for the work to
be done, nothing could be more GER
tain in its action. The introduction
Of the fore and aft buIkhead divid-
ing the separate engines of twin
screw ship has been objected to by
high authorities, on the ground that
if one side were filed with water
the list would be so great that the
vessel would inevitably overturn
and that what was conceived as a
means of safety would become a
source Of certain danger. It has
however been xperimentally demon
! strated in this case that if the two
, largest compartments on one side
Of the fore and aft bulkhead were
filed the list would be only twelve
degrees, and facilities are at com
, mand to correct this by pumping in
, water on the other side.
: TRIPLE EXPANSION ENGINES.
r The engines are triple expansion
5 with three cylinders Of 43 inches
) 68 inches and 10 inches in diameter
. and they have been constructed tc
, develop 1900 horsepower. The
5 pistons have a fve-foot stroke, and
. the machinery, in accordance with
: the Admiralty requirements, has al
been placed below the water line
: The boilers are twelve in number
5 Some are II feet and some II fee
t 6 inches in diameter and II fee
+ long, with six furnaces III each and
? CRATE area of 1853 feet. The fur
3 naces are fed with forced air to &
moderate extent above the fuel anc
, under the CRATE, and the boilers are
designed to work up to 189. The
: initial pressure IN the intermediate
}, cylinder is 80 pounds and in the low
about 16 pounds with a vacuum of
THE PRoPELLERs.
The propellers, which are 81 feet
inches in diameter, with pitch of q
! feet 6 inches and a superficial area
of 128 feet, form subject of specia
interest in this ship on account o.
: the unusual manner in which they
are placed. They overlap each Other
to the extent of feet 6inches, or, il
other words, they each extend over
2 the center line feet 9 inches. The
centers of their axles are 16 fee