The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-13
: PLENTY OF WATER
Fireboat Snoqualmie Worthy
Of Her Indian Name.
BETTER THAN a LAND ENGINES.
The Completed Crafs Underroes a Thor
oush Test With Gratifying Ee-
suits-Her Pumping Power.

The trial trip Of the frs5oat snoqualrnse took
place yesterday, and was success in every re-
peel she Is ready 70 leave the hands Of the
binders ana VIII row BE- htsed OF, for The &C.
coTnEsocstson Of the crew large number Of
TIE CITY ohc3Als ard insurance men soaae o.
WHOM nad come from San Francisco responded
70 the Invitation 20 witness the tesla The most
important result was the perfect satisfaction Of
the insurance agents, who expressed themselves
a. oprlneed that they might now safely reenFr-
mend @ material reduction IN rates mon aIl
property within reach of the boats protection
was nearly II O'Clock when tbs signal vas
given TO start from the dock Of the seattle Dry
Dock and ehipbBiIding Company. Among
Rose who went aboard we're President G. ".
nasis Aldermen Snyder, Bogardns and wald,
Dssegates Hanford s1d EyEg: Major ~. v. Rine-
hart, Jesse Cochrane, seerefary Pratt and super
1nfeneanf Preston. Ok the beard Of public works:
comptroller Ferris, Councilmeu IErse NeKen-
lie and Jones. Fire Commissioners Eahaley,
Foster, Faegre and CLARK, and Chief Kellogg.
The Insurance interests vers represented By NJ.
4 .. IonFoy, assistant manager OF
tne racine Coast Insurance Union; RI.
= Parkhurst, surveyor for the union;
". L. Gazzarn, w. VI. Calhoun r. r. whitney,
Captain II. J. Brrns, 3. VI. Baker Mr. Brown Of
BrOwu. Crais Co., San francesca and r. T.
I1edsnann, special agent Ex-Mayor Robert
MORAN president, Alex Alien, manager, and
Thomas Moran Of the Seattle Dry Dock and
shspbniiding Company, by which the boat Was
butt superintended the trip, wish Captain Nc
Ailup and Pilot soper, Of TIC cts crew, and J.
H. r. Mitchell, Inspector OF construction on the
rart OF the city. at the helm by turns There
was no hitch In any OF the arrangements. With
IN few minutes after the signal was
g3veD the snoqualmie left the dock
and steamed out into the hay.
vita the exception of q little stiffness Of the
steering gear, which soon yielded. the mac hiReTy
responded promptly. For about an hour she
vas run up and down the water front and across
tbs harbor, turning and twisting i'm order
70 show the readiness with which she
could he handled There was q rough
snd ehoppy sea, and the passengers
prepared Tor unpleasant experiences a. she got
out toward Duwamish head. but she kept re-
Invariably steady Her speed was estimated At
shout ten miles an hour during the trip After
considerable maneuver5ng she took raJn along
the water front, her powerful whistle serving to
call out thousands Of people 70 tire wharyes, who
watched her eyolutioDs. IS the sB0QualInie
passed each dock she WIS saInted ty all tho
crafts she passed, and she finally drew m Et
Harrington Il smiths wharf where preparations
had been made for testing her power to throw
water.
A line Of hose was stretched M Washington
street nearly to Commercial, and dozen other
lines from the outer end Of the wharf where the
boAt was moored, up half way 20 Railroad ave
nue.. When the water vas first turned On little
pressure was used, but il was gradually IN
creased 70 nearly 30 pounds, when four lines of
the hose gave way In places At one time eight
2lz-fnch streams were thrown q distance Of az
least 15s feet from the nozzles, and, had it been
practicable TO use higher pressure. even more
remarkable results would have been shown.
The result OF the test was satisfactory to all
the spectators, and the power OF the great pumps
their efficiency In time OF need The pumps can
be worked up 70 a pressure OF go pounds. bu; a;
no time during the test was more than twoEfthg
OF that amount used The two finch uir4s
which will discharge from swivel uozzles on the
pilot house, were not brought into use, the noz-
xaes being delayed on the way from the factory.
The sncqualmie Is q handsome and st2Eneh
boat. There Is a graceful curve In her lines and
ell her appointments are finely finished, bu; her
appearance is suggestive OF the hard work she Is
Hfely 70 be csiied on TO do. The great Ere Of
- 8 1859. brought out with terrible eIearness
U'e necessity Of floating auxiliary to thefre de-
paffment, and the suggestions of Mayor Robert
Morzn brought about the construction OF FIRE
bo&t that Il the only one worthy Of the name on
the Coast, and only second 20 the one recently
constructed In New York at the enormous cost
OF t9s0o0.
The length Is % feet over all. and 20 feet on
the water line. The extreme beam Is . feet and
loaded draught is seven feet, with a displace-
ynent OF f35 tons. A striking feature OF the boat
IS her enormous boiler power, greater in fact
than anything Of her size ever turned out on
the Pacific coast She is fitted with two Scotch
marine boilers of 91zx91{ feet, built of z4inch
steel, and having tensile strength OF $500
Each boiler has two furnaces OF corrugated steel.
The pr0peiling engines are OF the compound
high pressure type of S,ohorse power, with Cyl
Under lsx26 inches and l6inch stroke. The
estimated speed of tbs sncqualnie is fourteen
miles hour, but 1t Is safe 10 say that she will
not go more than twelve or thirteen, which ~
amply sufficient for the purposes Tor which shs
win be used.
Most OF the interest In the boat of course cen
tiers in the fire extinguishing apparatus This
consists Of two duplex steam pumps, built hy
Giapp * Jones, of Hudson. ~ \. They have
1btnch cylinders. I0-inch water plungers aud
10-inch stroke. The snctions are fourteen inches
fn diameter and the discharge pipe ten inches
This pipe supplies cast irou headers, 20 which
are connected twelve 81 inch valves each valve.
hy a siamese, supplying two ~ fire department
hose, 50 that altogether twenty Hour department
kfreafns can lie worked from the bow Of the hzast
Besides these there are the two seventeen pipes
which will he worked from the top Of the pilot
house by means OF swivel pozzles. Wiih ell
these in operation the Snoqualmie can discharge
over 1900 gallons OF water a minnie when It3s
remembered that the largest hand engines are
only equal 20 800 gallons minute some idea 81
the capabilities OF The fireboat can be obtained.
She can easily do the work~and more effectively
--of dozen land engines.
COMPARED with other firehoais, the suooual-
ME comes second, The last New York boat ex-
ceeds ell others Her capacity is double that 81
tile snoQualInie, but then her cost was nearly
double. Concerning the Others, the following
table of the capacity OF each shows the SnoquaI,
Garoas
per Hour
Ecsttlc. 900
Boston. ..........-..+.......... bss9
Chicago. $500
Brooklyn... ..............-.......-.... 400
Cleveland. ..............+--.......-... 4.assu
New York Told boat ..................... 3,h0
New York lnew boat. .-......-..........l4,eo
The zophar Mills. which is Tire name Of The
old New York boat, working on a IRE COutinu-
Dusty for i6s hours. discharged 2l.GNe0o galio1s
Of water. In the same time the SHoquaiuic
could have discharged over 50,te0Qu9 gallons
III Is almost impossible 10 gain an idea of this
vast quantity OF water.
The fireboat will be moved 70 the loot of
Madison street She will lie bow out. mooTed
stem and stern. Forward double rope blight
will 20 over the bits GA the boat and afr the