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a other public Sciences, the Magazine and > tions. 2 (Page /98.) mirable model, the impregnable secur- ity of her motive power (being placed below water line), and her powerful 'armament made her an object of uni- versal admiration. Wherever she ap- peared immense crowds gathered to witness her evolutions and _ inspect her machinery." A Committee of the American Institute, of which George C. DeKay, a-celebraied ship 'builder, was chairman, announced that this vessel was "in every way worthy of the highest honors of the' Institute-- a sublime conception most success- fully realized, an effort of genius skill- fully executed, a grand, unique com- bination, honorable to the country as creditable to all engaged upon her." Bennett Woodcroft in hie~"Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation," 1848, says: Notwith- standing the unfavorable and discour- aging results of JCapt. Erricon's ' at- tempts to obtain for his discovery the patronage of the Lords of the Admiralty, it should in justice be stated that few inventions ever elic- ited such approving notices from the press: Accounts of the several ex- periments appeared in the Times and journals: -aiso in: the Civil Engineers and Architects Jour- nal, the London Journal of Arts and | London Mechanics other similar publica- Influence on Rail Rates. Woodcroft notes the fact that "the introduction of the first screw steam- er, the Erricson, between Philadelphia and Baltimore by the inland route, via Chesapeake and Delaware Canal completely annihilated as a profitable speculation one of the greatest works in the country, the Philadelphia & Baltimore railroad." It was obliged to reduce its fare one-half and though the state protected its passenger trips 'by imposing a prohibitory toll on passengers going by the = screw propeller line, its freight 'business was lost forever. (Pages 101-2.) "It will thus be seen," says W'ood- eroit;' . "that Capt. Erricson. ac- complished for the namely, its practical introduction." (Page 192.) These facts serve better to account for the success of John Erricson than the circumstance that he was a man possessed of great "conversational ability." He was. undoubtedly an earnest and convincing talker on sub- jects he thoroughly understood, but screw propeller: in America and England, what Fulton did for the paddle-wheel in the form- er and Bell in the latter country, THE Marine REVIEW Z he was convincing because he spoke from a knowledge and experience of engineering matters superior to that of any other man of his time. This fact could tbe clearly demonstrated by a review of his history previous to his advent in this country and_ his career subsequent to that time. 'Perhaps it may be well for me to say that I speak with some authority on this subject as I was literary exe- cutor for John Ericsson, and all his papers were turned over to me at the time of his death, and are now in my possession. This is not material, however, as this is not an expression of opinion, but a statement of facts for which the authority is given. Mr. Herbert C. Felton. | Mr. Herbert C, Felton: (Communi- cated). The very. interesting paper of Mr. Charles W. Cramp, on '"Evolu- tion of Screw Propulsion in the Unit- ed States" recalls the wooden steam- ships with beam engines and paddle wheels built by 'the Novelty Iron Works for the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. and referred to in his tpaper. It was my fortune to-be employed in the draughting room of the Nov- elty Iron Works from 1866 to 1869, 'during which time the last two or three or these ships were completed. Ten or twelve vessels in all of this type were made for the Pacific Mail Company, the machinery for all of which was made and installed iby the Novelty Iron Works. These beam engines were 105-in. diameter of cylinder, 12-ft. stroke, with paddle wheels 40 to 45 ft. in diameter by 12 ft. face. The "boilers: were made/ to carry 3 1b. of steam. The. condensers (surface) were square. cast from iboxes with compressed wood thimbles for tube packings. I recall the trou- ble referred to in breaking of the shafts, and to overcome this it was proposed to construct one of these ships without the usual outboard bearings: On. the--outside of the. wooden hull an extensive plate iron construction was designed; to be screw bolted to the hull and on which was to be placed the shaft pillow block or bearing; this carrying the weight of the wheel and the over- hanging shaft. In order 'to do this the wheel was to be "dished"--that is the hubs moved closer together and the "arms "bent. to: suit! F am not entirely sure that this construction was adoptedd But I distinctly recall the drawingsb made for this purpose. It was frequéntly my duty to work up the indicatér cards and engineer's December, 1909 log. My recollection is that the economy shown was 23/10 to 25/10 Ib. of coal per one #OrSepower per hour. ; The Novelty Iron Works. Previous to and during the Civil War the Novelty Iron. Works was probably the most extensive steam engine works. in the country, and during the war the machinery for "many gun boats for the U. S. Gov- ernment was built and installed in wooden hulls, built for outside parties. The machinery for the sloop of war "Wampanoag" was built and installed by this same company about 1868. The engines, designed during the time of Chief Engineer B. F. Isher- wood, consisted of two horizontal engines 100 in. in. diameter of cyl- inder by 48-in. stroke--geared to the propeller shaft--2 to 1. The pro- peller was 20 fit. diameter by 25 ft. "plitchs: Sle: had 12 large boilers and the bunker capacity for coal was very much cramped. On her trial trip she developed very great speed for that period. a Referring again to the large beam engines: When the cylinder was fin- ished for the first of these large en- gines I understand that a table was set inside of same and twelve to fif- teen officials sat down to a banquet. I think, however, that these cylinders were exceeded in size by 'beam en- gines installed on two Sound steam- boats; these were 112 in. diameter by 12 ft. stroke and were built about 1867 by the Morgan Iron Works. Mr. D. W. Taylor. De W.. Laylor:: It seems. --to.-me there has been some reference to the Ericsson propeller that it might be of interest to recall to the members of the society the principal features of the Ericsson' propeller, as I under- stand it. I believe the early Ericsson propellers consisted of a short cyl- inder or plate of cast iron, which was secured 'by several arms to the hub, and then there were a number of blades of helicoidal shape stepped around qn the cylinders, as many as six or eight, and it was that type of propeller which Ericsson advocated strongly to the English Admiralty in the late thirties, at the same time when a farmer named Smith was ad- vocating a different type of propeller, which consisted essentially of two blades, having almost complete con- volution and built of wood, and Mr. Smith had the advantage of a banker who backed him, and he finally suc- ceeded in getting the Admiralty to pe ey lt ese hg ikea aa a Si ta a ik Sa eB oe tie Se ie let