Part 89

“While looking with the rest of the crowd, a world of thoughts came whirling through our brain. The balloon, which it was endeavored to make perform a useful part in the battle of Fleurus, and at the siege of Toulon, has only been considered, up to this time, as an amusing experiment of natural philosophy. It is made to figure in _fetes_ and in public solemnities; for the crowd, who have more feeling for great things than academies and wise bodies, feel an interest in balloon ascensions, which has not diminished since the first attempts of Montgolfier. It is a profoundly human instinct, which induces us to follow into the air, until it is lost to the sight, this globe swelled with smoke, as if it contained the destinies of the future. Man, the king of creation in intelligence, is, physically, but indifferently endowed. He has neither the swiftness of the stag, the eye of the eagle, the scent of a dog, the wing of the bird, nor the fin of the fish; for everything in man is sacrificed to the brain. All these auxiliaries he has been forced to furnish himself by the skill of his hand and the sweat of his brow. The horse, the carriage and the rail-car make up to him for his want of speed; the telescope and the microscope equal the eagle’s eye; the compass enables him to follow a track as unerringly as a dog; the ship, the steamboat and the diving-bell open to him the dominion of the waters. Nothing remained but the air, where the bird escaped us, followed only a few hundred feet by the arrow or gun, ingenious means of bringing distances nearer together. It really seems as if God should have given us such wings as the painters lend the angels; but the beauty and grandeur of man consist in his not having these giant appendages, or being embarrassed by fins. With the power of thought, and the hand, that admirable tool, he must seek and find, out of himself, all his physical powers.

“The idea of mounting into the air is not new; it is not to-day that Phaeton asked to get into Phœbus’s car, and that Dædalus launched into the air his son Icarus. Their descents were only unaccomplished ascents. The griffins, the hippogriffs, the Pegasus, the winged shoes of Mercury, the arrow of Abarys, the carpet of the four Facardins, testify to the continuance and persistence of this idea. At night, does not the dream deliver us from the laws of weight? Does it not give us the faculty of going, of coming, and of flying to the summit of things before unattainable, or of losing ourselves in the infinite hights? This general and oft-repeated dream, which expresses the secret desire of humanity, has it not something prophetic? Perhaps modern skepticism treats too lightly the meaning of these flights of the soul, temporarily freed from the more earthly control of reason and sense. With the astonishing simplicity of the operations of nature, a miracle took place in the fireplace, without attracting attention, every time that the smoke carried out of the chimney a piece of burnt paper. It required six thousand years to take a hint from this simple fact. The balloon floats in the air as oil floats upon wine, as cork upon water, as the cannon-ball upon mercury, by relations of weight and of lightness, one single law everywhere. But unfortunately, the balloon has neither wings, nor tail, nor neck, nor feet, nothing which can guide it; it is a vessel without sail or helm, a fish without fins, a bird without feathers; it floats, that is all; it is immense, and it is nothing. Why do not all the inventors, wise mechanicians, chemists, poets, occupy themselves by endeavoring to solve the problem of the guiding of balloons? Is it not shameful for man to have found the hippogriff which transports him to the celestial regions, and not to know how to guide it; while every day the birds go and come on airy wings, as if to instruct and defy us? The air, although a fluid, offers points of propulsion, since the condor, or the sparrow, mounts, descends, goes to the right and left, quickly or slowly, as he pleases; and why should not man be able to do the same? The time when he shall do this may be near. That will be a great day! Man will truly become master of his planet, and will have conquered his atmosphere! No more seas, no more rivers, no more mountains, no more valleys; that will be the true reign of liberty. Merely by this knowledge of the direction of balloons, the whole face of the world will change immediately. Other forms of government, other manners, a new style of architecture, a different system of fortification, will be needed; but then men will no longer make war. The custom-house and its taxes, and the stronghold, will disappear. Visit, if you can, with your gauge and your yardstick, balloons ten thousand feet in the air; of what use will be moats, ditches, portcullis and bridges, against an aerial army? What a fine spectacle it will be to see crossing one another in the air, at different hights, these swarms of balloons, painted with brilliant colors, guided during the day by the light, and at night with their lanterns, having the appearance of stars traversing the firmament! The ascension of the highest mountains will then be but child’s play. We shall penetrate into China, and go to Timbuctoo as one goes to St. Cloud; the deserts of Africa, of Asia and of America, will be forced to deliver up their secrets. We shall go even to the border of the atmosphere which surrounds us. We shall visit creation in every nook and recess. There will be servant balloons and master balloons; and in speaking of the luxury or extravagance of a person, it will be said, ‘He is rich; he has a balloon of thirty-four thousand cubic feet of gas;’ which will be equivalent to saying that he has a coach and four. And when this dream is realized, the execution of another, already dreamed by the poets, will be attempted. Man, arrived at the outward limits of his atmosphere, will wish to leave his planet; and will seriously attempt to reach the moon! And who shall say that at some time he shall not do it?”

[Illustration: EARLY NAVIGATION.]

THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION.

One of the wonders of the world, is to be found in tracing the _progress of navigation_, from its small beginning, up to its present wonderful condition and results. There is an old legend, that, ages ago, a piece of reed floating on the water, first suggested the idea of navigation. And if so, the next step might have been, the use of logs for crossing rivers; then, the use of rafts; then, of canoes of hollowed logs; and then, of artificial boats, of various forms and materials, some of wood, some of skins, and some of bark. The earliest navigators on an extended scale were the Phœnicians, who made voyages through the Mediterranean, and along the northern coasts of Europe, and down the Red sea, as early as the days of Solomon, one thousand years before the Christian era. Their earliest attempts to navigate the waters, might perhaps be represented in the following cut, in which several forms of boats may be seen. Their larger and later vessels were somewhat of the shape of those now in use, though more perhaps of the Dutch, than of the English or American form. The sails of these vessels are said to have been suggested by the little sea animal, called the _nautilus_. The vessels themselves had no decks, and were not over twenty or thirty tuns’ burden. They had masts and rudders, and the prow was decorated with paint and gilding, and represented the image of some god. The ships of the Greeks and Romans, in after times, were larger, but they were uncouth structures, managed with difficulty, and liable to numerous accidents and hindrances. The war ships were nothing but large row-boats. These were very long and narrow, like canoes. The cable and anchor were later inventions. The latter at first was a large stone. In the days of the Roman emperors, vessels of immense size were occasionally built, but they were of little use, except for the transportation of heavy objects. In the middle ages, navigation made little progress; but about the close of the fifteenth century, its strides were prodigious. The mariner’s compass had been invented, and the sailor had now a guide over the mysterious ocean. Hence America was discovered in 1492, though the three ships of Columbus were not so large as our common schooners, and had no proper decks; so that it seems a wonder to us, that with these comparatively small vessels he should have ventured so far on the mighty deep. From his day to the present, there has been a steady advance in ship-building. The forms of vessels have been improved; their size greatly increased; and their number multiplied, a thousand fold; so that if the great navigator were now again to visit the earth, he would be astonished at the huge structures built as packet and freight ships for crossing the ocean. For a long time, the English took the lead in ship-building; but it is now admitted that the fastest vessels in the world, as well as those of most graceful appearance, are those built in the United States. In the cut above, is a view of one of our large packet-ships, just ready to be launched from the stocks. Vessels of this class may vary from fifteen hundred to two thousand tuns’ burden; their main cabins are beautifully furnished with mahogany and gilded carvings; and no expense is spared that may contribute to their elegance, or the comfort of passengers.

[Illustration: THE LAUNCH OF A PACKET-SHIP.]

STEAM NAVIGATION.

So far as we know, the ancients were unacquainted with the nature and properties of steam. Some accounts, indeed, have come down to us, of engines of a very early date, such, for example, as that proposed by Hero, of Alexandria, in which the mechanical agency of steam was more or less used; but it does not appear that those who invented and applied these machines, understood the properties of vapor, or had any correct idea of the effect of heat when applied to liquids. Even at a much later date, the effects produced by steam were ascribed, not to the vapor of water, but to the force of the air which was supposed to be expelled from water by heat. In the seventeenth century, De Caus proposed the construction of a machine by which a column of water was raised by the elastic force of steam, but he does not seem to have understood the principle on which it was effected. About the middle of the same century, Lord Worcester published the description of a high pressure steam-engine, which has since formed so remarkable a feature in all histories of steam-engines. Toward the latter end of the century, however, the actual properties of vapor began to be more unfolded. In 1683, Sir Samuel Morland discovered the exact numerical proportion in which water increases its volume when evaporated. A few years later, Papin discovered the method of producing a vacuum by the condensation of steam; and this discovery was, by others, soon applied to mechanical purposes. About the middle of the eighteenth century, Watt applied himself to the improvement of the steam-engine; and from this time forward, the various discoveries of chemistry, and the experiments of scientific and practical men, prepared the way for rapid progress in the application of steam.

In 1793, Fulton, the celebrated engineer, engaged actively in endeavoring to improve inland navigation. Even at that early period, he had conceived the idea of propelling vessels by steam; and he speaks, in some of his manuscripts, with great confidence of its practicability. In 1797, he went to Paris, and, while there, projected the first panorama that was ever exhibited there. He also planned a _submarine boat_. In 1803, he completed his first steamboat, which was tried upon the Seine, and proved completely successful. He now proceeded to New York, to carry his ideas of steam navigation into practical effect; and in 1807, his first steamboat, a view of which is given in the cut beyond, ascended the Hudson river, to the great delight and wonder of thousands of spectators. She was called the Clermont; and was only one hundred feet long, twelve wide, and seven deep. Her first trip was made, September first, 1807, from New York to Albany, one hundred and sixty miles, in thirty-six hours; the fare for the passage being seven dollars, exclusive of meals. Thus this great man brought to a successful issue his long meditated invention, and determined the possibility of applying steam to navigation. Several steamboats were soon after constructed under Mr. Fulton’s directions, and also a steam-frigate. He continued to make various experiments till his death, which occurred in 1815.

[Illustration: FULTON’S FIRST STEAMBOAT.]

Still later than this, we find a description of the Clyde steamboat, which is spoken of in an English magazine as follows: “Its extreme length is seventy-five feet, its breadth fourteen feet, and the hight of the cabins six and a half feet. She is built very flat, and draws from two feet and nine inches to three feet of water. The best or after-cabin, is twenty feet long, and is entered from the stern: between the after-cabin and the engine, a space of fifteen feet is allotted for goods. The engine is a twelve horsepower, and occupies fifteen feet; the fore-cabin is sixteen feet long, and is entered from the side. The paddles, sixteen in number, form two wheels of nine feet diameter, and four feet broad, made of hammered iron: they dip into the water from one foot and three inches to one foot and six inches. Along the outer edge of these wheels a platform and rail are formed quite round the vessel, projecting over the sides, and supported by timbers reaching down to the vessel’s side. This steamboat runs at the rate of four or four and a half miles per hour in calm weather; but against a considerable breeze, three miles only. It can accommodate two hundred and fifty passengers, and is wrought by five men. The engine consumes twelve hundred weight of coals per day. The funnel of the boiler is twenty-five feet high; and carries a square-sail twenty-two feet in breadth.”

In the same connection, we find an article published in the Monthly Magazine, by Sir Richard Phillips, with the express object of giving clear ideas of the utility of steamboats, and of quieting apprehensions as to their safety, which at the present day it is truly amusing to read. The writer says: “The groundless alarms relative to a supposed increase of danger from traveling by steam-packets, led the editor of the Monthly Magazine, within the current month, (July, 1817,) to make a voyage, in one of them, from London to Margate. This vessel left her moorings, at the Tower of London, about half past eight in the morning, at the time the tide was running strong up the river, and when no other vessel could make progress, except in the direction of the tides. The steam-packet proceeded, however, against the stream, in a gallant style, at the rate of six or seven miles an hour; and a band of music, playing lively airs on the deck, combined with the steadiness of the motion, to render the effect delightful. An examination of the steam-engine, and of her rate of working, proved that no possibility of danger exists. It appeared that the boiler had been proved at twenty-five pounds to the square inch; but that the valve was held down by a weight of only four pounds, and that the mercurial gauge did not indicate an employment of actual pressure of above two pounds and a half per square inch. Hence it follows, that, although the engine was capable of sustaining a pressure of at least twenty-five pounds, only four pounds, or less than a sixth, was the whole force which the valve would permit to be exerted; and that, in point of fact, a pressure of only two pounds and a half to the square inch, or only _one-tenth_ of the proven power of the boiler, was employed. There is, therefore, less danger in passing some hours in contact with such a machine, than there is in sitting near a boiling tea-kettle, tea-urn, or saucepan, under circumstances in which they are often used. Opposite Greenwich, a fine commentary was afforded of the value of steam as a navigating power, in preference to winds and tides; a Margate sailing-packet passing toward London, which had been a day and two nights on its passage, a period of time which it appears is not uncommon. In short, with uninterrupted pleasure, and in an hour sooner than the captain had named at starting, the vessel was carried along-side Margate pier, having employed nine hours in performing a voyage of ninety miles. In this case it appeared, that a pressure of two pounds to the square inch, produced about forty rotations per minute of the acting water-wheels; and, as these were ten feet in diameter, the motion of the impelling floats, or wheel-paddles, would be at the rate of fifteen with, or against the stream, at an average of ten miles an hour. The consumption of coals during the voyage was less than a caldron; but it was described as amounting frequently to a caldron and a half. On the whole, nothing could be more demonstrative of the worth and security of this mode of navigation; and there can be little doubt but, in a few years, vessels of every size, and for every extent of voyage, will be provided with their steam-engine, which will be more used, and more depended upon, than winds or tides. The chances of accidents are lower than those under most other circumstances in which men are placed in traveling. By land, horses kill their thousands _per annum_, open chaises their hundreds, and stage-coaches their scores; and, by water, the uncertainty of winds has destroyed thousands, by prolonging the voyage, and increasing the exposure to bad weather; but in a steam-packet, navigated by an engine whose proven powers necessarily exceed what can be exerted during its use, or in general by such engines as those used on the Thames or Clyde, no accident can possibly happen; unless, by a miracle, it were to happen, that a force of _four_ pounds should overcome a resistance of _twenty-four_ pounds.”

From the above amusing article, we pass to notice the immense ocean steamers of the present day, as they so forcibly illustrate the progress of steam navigation. The chief lines of those with which we are familiar, are the Cunard line and the Collins line, both plying between the United States and England. Before describing them particularly, however, it should here be mentioned, that the first steamship that ever crossed the Atlantic sailed from Savannah, in Georgia, for Liverpool, on the twenty-sixth of May, 1819, and made the voyage in twenty-two days. She was telegraphed at Liverpool as “_a ship on fire_” and a revenue-cutter was dispatched to her relief, when the officers and crew of the latter were struck with astonishment at not being able to overtake a vessel _under bare poles_. At Liverpool, and afterward at Copenhagen, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg, whither she went, she was visited by crowds of wondering people; and at the latter place a service of plate was presented to her officers. She was commanded by Captain Rodgers, of New London, Conn., and some of her officers are still living. After this, it was a long time before another steamship crossed the Atlantic. At last, however, the experiment was again and still again tried, until now the ocean is constantly traversed by the huge steamers above alluded to, in the average time of about eleven days and a half, though the passage has been made, in some single cases, in a little over nine days.

A good idea of these ocean steamers may be formed from the view given of one of them in the cut below, in connection with the following description of the Baltic, belonging to the Collins line.

[Illustration: AN OCEAN STEAMER.]

The Baltic is of thirty-two hundred tuns’ burden, carpenter’s measure; in length, two hundred and eighty-seven feet; breadth of beam, forty-six feet; depth of hold, thirty-two feet; to the top of the gunwale, thirty-four feet and six inches. The diameter of her wheels is thirty-six feet; the number of floats, (corresponding to the buckets or paddles of a common water-wheel,) twenty-six in each wheel; their length, twelve feet and a half; their breadth, twenty-eight, and their thickness, three inches and a half; each float being armed with three hundred pounds of iron, so that it requires six men to lift it. The engine has two working cylinders, each ninety-six inches in diameter; the length of their stroke is ten feet; and the number of revolutions is from eleven to fourteen in a minute. The vacuum is equivalent to fourteen pounds upon the square inch; a near approximation to a perfect vacuum, which corresponds to fifteen pounds on the square inch. The pressure of steam is from twelve to twenty pounds upon the square inch; usually from twelve to fifteen pounds; this is all the amount of the power tending to produce explosion, while including what is gained by the vacuum, the effective motive power is equivalent to twenty-six, twenty-nine and thirty-four pounds on the square inch. The highest pressure used in an ordinary passage may be about eighteen pounds, equivalent to a working force of thirty-two pounds; and the lowest about seven or eight pounds, giving a moving force of twenty-one or twenty-two pounds. The ability of the boilers corresponds to fifty pounds, and with the addition of the vacuum, to sixty-four pounds; it follows, therefore, that they are generally worked with less than half their power. The entire weight of the steam machinery is one thousand tuns, and it occupies sixty feet in the length of the ship.