Puslapio vaizdai
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in handling the boat at landings. If the boat has a stern-wheel the two engines work together and are controlled from the center of the engineroom. The boilers are always placed in the center of the boat, and the two tall smokestacks are set on each side to distribute the weight. This section is, however, misleading in one respect. The engines and boilers are really wide apart, the boilers being placed quite forward of the center while the engines are at the stern. This also is to distribute the weights over the long and shallow hull. With this section is another, giving a cross-section of the Puritan. A comparison of the two sections will be interesting, as showing the proportions of the hulls to the houses or decks. The usual dimensions of a first-class side

wheel boat for the Mississippi are as follows: The hull, which may be of wood or steel, is 300 feet long, 50 feet wide, with 9 feet depth of hold. The boat draws 10 feet of water loaded and 4 feet light. The main deck overhangs the hull for the greater part of the length and is usually ninety feet wide, or twenty feet wider on each side than the hull. It will be seen that the boat is practically a long, shallow flatboat, and to give it strength and stiffness it must be tied together by some overhead system of framing. In Eastern boats the same thing is accomplished by massive timbers, or "hog frames." In river boats heavy rods and chains are used in connection with upright struts of wood. This simple device of tying the two ends together seems to accomplish its purpose

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perfectly, and the hull is sufficiently strong and stiff for the smooth waters on which it moves. In a sea-way the boat would be unseaworthy and would soon break in two. This has happened on the river, when boats have been caught on a bar and the receding water has left the center resting firmly and the bow and stern unsupported. In such wrecks the hog chains break and the boat falls apart. Many curious stories have been told of the ingenious devices resorted to by Western captains to prevent such wrecks. Finding their boats aground, with the water falling, they have attempted to sustain the unsupported parts with piles driven in the river bottom and with heaps of logs and freight thrown under the hull. So elastic are these long, shallow hulls that it is not uncommon to lift them bodily over a shoal or bar by pushing stout poles or spars into the river bottom and then "jumping" them over by means of tackle, very much as a boy might vault over a ditch by means of a stout pole.

In point of design the hulls of these more recent river boats are quite equal, within the limits of their duty, to the fine boats of the East. An effort has been made to secure as high speed as may be consistent with capacity and a perfectly flat bottom. The lines are long and easy and the bows sharp. The sides are straight and are drawn in very gradually towards the square stern. In stern-wheel boats the guards do not overhang much. In sidewheel boats the guards are wide enough to inclose the paddleboxes. There is a very slight

sheer, or rise, at the bows

and a smaller rise at the
stern, so that the deck is prac-
tically level. When loaded, the
guards are close to the water, and
it is only when the boat is docked
that any idea of the shape of the hull
can be gained.

or landing stages, handled by steam-power, steam capstans, and electric search-lights that may be controlled from the pilot-house, are among the more recent improvements added to the boats. The freight capacity of such a boat is estimated at 1500 tons, and there are about 70 staterooms, with accommodations for 140 passengers. The two engines have 26inch cylinders, with 10-feet strokes, and are of 3000 horse-power. The cost of such a boat, furnished and ready for service, will vary, according to the finish, from $100,000 to $120,

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WORKING-BEAM,

On this long, flat hull is erected a saloon deck extending nearly the whole length of the boat, and on it are placed two rows of staterooms, one on each side, with doors opening into the saloon and also upon the narrow gallery, or deck, outside. The saloon is always of the entire length of the house, giving a fine, large, well-lighted room that is used in part for a dining-room and in part for a general meeting-room for the passengers. Above this deck is an upper deck, or "roof," and on this is placed a smaller house for the accommodation of the officers of the boat; above this, in the center of the boat, is the lofty wheelhouse, which is always entirely inclosed in glass, that the pilot may have an unobstructed view in every direction. Swinging gang-planks,

"PURITAN."

000, and such a boat is good for from 12 to 18 years' service. The picture of a typical stern-wheel boat on page 361 is from a photograph of a boat now in use. In facility in handling, and in speed and capacity, these boats are undoubtedly the best and cheapest river boats ever designed. They do not look very shipshape to Eastern eyes; yet the fact remains that they do the business cheaply and with reasonable speed. While it is quite possible that they might be a little more substantial, still they are the best boats ever built for their service and climate. If any criticism might be made it would be in the color. White is not the best color for a soft-coal boat. It might also be wished that the profusion of scroll-saw work might give place to something more simple and not quite so dangerous in case of fire.

Upon the lakes both side-wheel boats and propellers are used for passenger service. The

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propellers do not differ materially from the coastwise steamships, except that the staterooms are all on the upper deck and the pilothouse is placed almost at the very bows of the boat. The side-wheel boats recently placed on the line between Cleveland and Detroit are essentially copies of the Fall River boats, and are sumptuously furnished night boats. Among the new boats on the lakes may be mentioned a very large transfer boat for use at Detroit. It is an iron boat, having both paddles and screws, and is of massive construction to enable it to break through the ice. The deck is fitted with two tracks, and will carry two locomotives and four passenger cars on each track.

In the East the most interesting new boats

are the Sound steamers Puritan, Connecticut, and City of Worcester, the Hudson River boat New York, the passenger transfer boat Monmouth, and the ferry-boat Bergen. The ferry-boat Bergen, built of steel at Newburg, is 200 feet long, with 37 feet beam, and with a hold of 17 feet depth. The deck overhangs the hull and is sixtytwo feet wide in the center. The boat is interesting on account of its peculiar motive power. There are two screws, one at each end of the boat, designed to be used both at once. The motive power is a triple-expansion engine, and is placed fore and aft. The three cylinders are respectively 18 inches, 27 inches, and 42 inches in diameter, with a stroke of two feet. The shaft extends the whole length of the boat and con

nects both screws, one pulling, the other usual massive overhead framing, at a very great pushing the boat at the same time. This pe- gain in the appearance of the boat. The boat culiar form of motive power has made it is 311 feet long on the main deck, the hull bepossible to construct a boat with clear cabins ing 40 feet wide and the deck 74 feet wide on each side and with a wider roadway for in the center. It draws only six feet, and is of teams in the middle. The cabins are each 137 1552 tons burden. Being designed only for pasfeet long, 16 feet wide amidships, and 142 sengers it has no staterooms, and the three decks feet high. In the center, to break the long are left as clear as possible. The house, or saroom into two smaller rooms, open screens and loon, on the main deck is very light and open, archways are introduced. The windows are in the sides being wholly of glass. The dining groups of three, and are of large plate-glass room is on this deck aft, and is one of the most the most noticeable feature of the decoration. beautiful rooms afloat, as there is an unob

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"Steamboat decoration" has become a byword, by reason of the complete lack of artistic feeling in its treatment. In many of the new boats there is a noticeable departure from the carpenter work of the past, and in the Bergen the decorations have been intrusted to one of the leading art firms of New York, and the result of their work is most interesting. The color in the ladies' cabin is cream and gold, with a deep frieze in a wreath pattern, while the ceiling is of a mosaic design. The seats are in the form of antique settles, and are made of mahogany. At the transom-lights is fine stained-glass. The work is harmonious and artistic and in keeping with its place.

The Hudson River boat New York is the finest American example of a passenger day boat afloat, and is probably the most beautiful river boat, designed for passengers only, in the world. The hull is of iron, and was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1887. The use of iron enabled the builders to dispense with the

structed view on every side. The house on the second deck gives a circular saloon formed with low windows, and in the rear of this saloon are small drawing-rooms with long windows intended for the use of passengers who wish private rooms during the trip. Aft is a covered deck, while above is the hurricane deck, open for the entire length of the house, and giving a promenade 200 feet long and 70 feet wide.

In the decoration there is a complete departure from the conventional steamboat style that still rages on the Western river boats. The interior finish is in ash and mahogany, and is quiet and artistic. The dome lights and transoms are of rich mosaic glass in admirable keeping with the woodwork. Each of the drawing-rooms is decorated in a different scheme of colors, and all are furnished in good taste.

The motive power is a beam engine of the usual type with a feathering paddle-wheel.

The wheels are
placed aft of the
center, and are
thirty feet in di-
ameter with a
bearing only on
the hull. By means
of radial rods oper-
ated by an eccen-
tric at the outer
end of the shaft
the twelve steel
buckets are ar-
ranged to enter and
leave the water
"feathered," or on
the edge. This
prevents the dis-
agreeable jarring
motion sometimes
to be noticed on
boats using large
wheels with fixed
floats.

feet high. The staterooms, 190 in number, are of the usual type, and, with the berths in the cabin, give accommodations to 600 passengers. In external appearance the boat is very attractive, while the interior decorations are simple and in quiet good taste. The boat is 358 feet 6 inches long over all, and 87 feet wide at the guards.

This boat is specially interesting on account of its motive power, which consists of a compound direct-acting oscillating engine. The two cylinders are inclined and placed opposite each other, the pistons being connected directly with the crank shaft. The high-pressure cylinder is 56 inches and the low-pressure cylinder 104 inches in diameter. It is the largest oscillating engine ever built, and is estimated to develop six thousand horse-power. The advantages of this type of engine are less weight and a great gain in room, as the engine is quite low in the hull, and thus gives more room in the saloon above.

Among the recent boats added to the fleet on New York Bay is the Monmouth, built in Philadelphia for the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, and her sister boat the Sandy Hook. The Monmouth plies between New York and the Sandy Hook terminus of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The trip lasts only an hour, and the Monmouth and the Sandy Hook are practically passenger transfer boats. The Monmouth is of iron, 250 feet long, 35 feet wide, and draws only 10 feet. There are two decks inclosed forward and provided with many large windows, so that practically the main and saloon decks are inclosed in glass, giving a fine view on every side, with ample protection from

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The new Sound steamer Connecticut was built at Noank, Connecticut, in 1888, and is of wood, with the usual massive overhead framing. The hull departs somewhat from the usual type, as it has long bow lines extending nearly half the length of the boat, with rather sharp stern lines, and a short, parallel body in the center. The forward part of the hull is designed to carry nearly all the freight burden, as the freight deck is forward of the wheels. Within the hull are five watertight bulkheads. The general arrangement of the saloons and cabins is the same as on the older boats of the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company, except that the café and lunch- the weather. The room are placed on the quarter deck near interior fittings are the main entrance, while the ladies' cabin in hard woods, is still farther aft at the stern. A stairway and the decorain the café leads to the dining-saloon below. tions are quiet and The saloon deck and the gallery decks have in good taste. staterooms the entire length on each side, One peculiar featthe main saloon being 280 feet long and 25 ure is the con

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PILASTER IN CABIN OF "PURITAN."

DETAIL OF PILASTER.

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