- Email: [email protected]
First British experiment in steam navigation
412
Firm ,5'lean~-boal Experiments.
creasing in my body, but became gradually wet~ and then sunk down again. ~lbid.
First British JExTeriment in Steam Navigation. S~n,--The accompanying sketch, tig. 1, represents a lateral section of the original steam-boat, invented by my father, the late William Symington, and the efficiency of which was twice proved, though on different scales of magnitude, by him, viz. once in 1788, on Dalswinton Lake, l)umfriesshire~-and another time, in 1789, on the Forth and Clyde Canal.
.Fig. 1
Description. A A, the two cylinders. B, the boiler. C, steam pipe. D D, paddle wheels, situated and wrought in a trough extending from the stem to the stern of the boat~ which trough allowed free ingress and egress to the water. E E, connecting chains. F F, direction pullies. G G~ ratchet wheels, which communicated motion to the paddle wheels. I I~ lower piston rods. H, beam. K, plug.fi'ame and hand gear. L L, flotation line. M, water cistern. The merit of these exemplifications has been in several publications erroneously awarded to the late Patrick Miller, Esq. The engine was of a peculiar construction, partly for the purpose of avoiding infringement on Mr. Watt's patent rights. It had two cylinders on
Gauge for Standing Casks.
418
atmospheric principles, each cylinder having two pistons, the lower of which acted as an air.pump. The more clearly to illustrate the principles of this part of the machinery, asection of the two cylinders is exhibited at fig. 2. a and b are the cylinders, a being in the act of receiving~ and b of condensing steam; c the steam-pipe; d d, atmospheric pistons, producing, by their Fig. 2. alternate action on the ratchet wheels~ rotary motion; e e, exhausting pistons;f f, steam valves; g g, exhausting valves; h h foot v a l v e s ; / i , discharge valves; k k connecting chain; l l, injecting pipes; m, beam. From this sketch it must be evident, that while the steam is elevating the atmospheric piston of either cylinder~ the lower piston is necessarily depressed, and perfi)rms the exhausting stroke of the opposite cylinder, both pistons, being connected by means of the beam. The exemplification of 1789 was propelled by the power of steam at the rate of six miles an hour; thus satisfactorily proving that the performance of the Charlotte Dundas in 180~2, as a tug, was not " t h e first public trial of steam fora useful purpose in navigation," as asserted in a report of the Forth and Clyde Canal Committee, contained in your Magazine of July 9, 1831. Sensible of the readiness with which you have inserted my former communications, and perfectly prepared to substantiate every particular which I have advanced, I am, &c. Bromley, Nov. 17, 183~2. " Wxi, LiAra SVMIN6T0~r.
[Mech. Mag,
Itennekey's Gaugefor Standing Casks. We extract from the last part of the ~ Transactions of the Society of Arts" the tbllowing more particular description of the new mode of gauging casks introduced by Mr. Hennekey, of High Holborn, of which we quoted a brief notice from Mr. Babbage's ~' Economy of Machinery," in our last volume, p. 215. The invention is of such manifest utility, that it can scarcely fail to come into universal use; and has very "deservedly obtained for the inventor the honour of tile society's silver Isis medal.
Firm ,5'lean~-boal Experiments.
creasing in my body, but became gradually wet~ and then sunk down again. ~lbid.
First British JExTeriment in Steam Navigation. S~n,--The accompanying sketch, tig. 1, represents a lateral section of the original steam-boat, invented by my father, the late William Symington, and the efficiency of which was twice proved, though on different scales of magnitude, by him, viz. once in 1788, on Dalswinton Lake, l)umfriesshire~-and another time, in 1789, on the Forth and Clyde Canal.
.Fig. 1
Description. A A, the two cylinders. B, the boiler. C, steam pipe. D D, paddle wheels, situated and wrought in a trough extending from the stem to the stern of the boat~ which trough allowed free ingress and egress to the water. E E, connecting chains. F F, direction pullies. G G~ ratchet wheels, which communicated motion to the paddle wheels. I I~ lower piston rods. H, beam. K, plug.fi'ame and hand gear. L L, flotation line. M, water cistern. The merit of these exemplifications has been in several publications erroneously awarded to the late Patrick Miller, Esq. The engine was of a peculiar construction, partly for the purpose of avoiding infringement on Mr. Watt's patent rights. It had two cylinders on
Gauge for Standing Casks.
418
atmospheric principles, each cylinder having two pistons, the lower of which acted as an air.pump. The more clearly to illustrate the principles of this part of the machinery, asection of the two cylinders is exhibited at fig. 2. a and b are the cylinders, a being in the act of receiving~ and b of condensing steam; c the steam-pipe; d d, atmospheric pistons, producing, by their Fig. 2. alternate action on the ratchet wheels~ rotary motion; e e, exhausting pistons;f f, steam valves; g g, exhausting valves; h h foot v a l v e s ; / i , discharge valves; k k connecting chain; l l, injecting pipes; m, beam. From this sketch it must be evident, that while the steam is elevating the atmospheric piston of either cylinder~ the lower piston is necessarily depressed, and perfi)rms the exhausting stroke of the opposite cylinder, both pistons, being connected by means of the beam. The exemplification of 1789 was propelled by the power of steam at the rate of six miles an hour; thus satisfactorily proving that the performance of the Charlotte Dundas in 180~2, as a tug, was not " t h e first public trial of steam fora useful purpose in navigation," as asserted in a report of the Forth and Clyde Canal Committee, contained in your Magazine of July 9, 1831. Sensible of the readiness with which you have inserted my former communications, and perfectly prepared to substantiate every particular which I have advanced, I am, &c. Bromley, Nov. 17, 183~2. " Wxi, LiAra SVMIN6T0~r.
[Mech. Mag,
Itennekey's Gaugefor Standing Casks. We extract from the last part of the ~ Transactions of the Society of Arts" the tbllowing more particular description of the new mode of gauging casks introduced by Mr. Hennekey, of High Holborn, of which we quoted a brief notice from Mr. Babbage's ~' Economy of Machinery," in our last volume, p. 215. The invention is of such manifest utility, that it can scarcely fail to come into universal use; and has very "deservedly obtained for the inventor the honour of tile society's silver Isis medal.