The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-05-06
THE CRUISER COLUMBIA.

| 'HC SNO'SeH NOlUM6iA.
Marvellous Ingenuity IN utl,sUo the
Power Of Steam. What Her Ninety
| Engines As For,
What wonderfully intricate mass
OF machinery is . modern man Of war!
The Columbia for example, the
pet OF the neS navy, and fondly re-
ferred to by many as the. Pirate, +"
shows to whata degree ingenuity
can be carried in the way of utilizing
the power OF steam. This fleet
cruiser was the first war ship ever
constructed having three screw pro-
pellers. andit has the record Of crcss-
ing the Atlantic in q shorter time
than was ever made by representa-
tive of any other navy. If a citizen
ofordinary intelligence were asked to
give a guess ~ to tho number of
engines board this ship he would
probably answer about ten, yet the
official list enumerates no less than
min ety.si1 distinct engines, giving
the function OF each.
To begin with. each propeller is
driven by totally distinct and separ.
ate set Of condensing triple expans.
ion, engines. To make each propeller
wholly independent of the others in
its operation each triplo expansion
driving engine has its own steam en-
gine to circulate water through the
condenser, another to exhaust air
from the condenser. third to re-
verse its valve mechanism, and q
fourth to turn the shaft from time to
time when IN port and the steam in
the main set Of boilers is not up,
making total OF five engines for
each propeller. one triple expansion,
three double engines and one single
one. The three propellers have ff-
teen engines containing thirty steam
cylinders.
When the bost il 10 Be driven At
its lshteat speed, aishteen. blowsrs
for forced draftare used, each driv-
en- by Q double vertical engine.
One engine is used for steering,
two for running the dynamos, one
for the workshop, one for circulating
the lubricating oil through the main
engines, one for operating the wind
lass to raise the anchor, one for the
cooling plant, and two for turning
the winches.
For elevating the ammunition
from the magazine and loading the
big guns four engines ofspecial type
are used. Eight vertical double
engines serve to raise the ashes
from the furnace room and throw
them overheard. In case the ship
should spring leak, or sho@ld be
pierced below the water line by
cannon ball, ten engines not previ-
ously referred to could at once be
set to work to pump out the inrush-
ing water. Most Of these could also
be used to throw streams of
water through ordinary hose pipe in
case fire should break out.
Eight engines are put to use in driv-
ing fans which supply fresh cool air
to various parts of the ship. These
are distinct from those used to oper-
ate the blowers for forced draft.
For supplying water to the main
system of boilers eight engines are
regularly used, and for the auxiliary
system of boilers there are four more.
Besides these twelve feed-water
engines there are bilge and fire en-
gines, which can be used whenever
desired to force water into the boil
ers.
The total number OF steam engines
on board the ship is ninety-six, and
the number of separate cylinders to
be kept in working order is one hun
dred and eighty four. The number
of men detailed to look after this in
tricate system of engines is one hun
dred and ninty-six. This, of course,
includes coal handlers, oilers, ma
chinists and engineers
Although the new navy contains
several ships larger than the Column
bia, there are none that have more
steam engines fer working them.