The iron ships, which of late have almost superseded those of wood, are made of plates of wrought iron, rolled, while red hot, between rollers to the thickness required, which is generally half-an-inch; these plates have holes punched all round them by machinery, and are united by rivets placed in the holes red-hot and rivetted by heavy hammers. The most magnificent specimen of iron shipbuilding ever attempted is the Leviathan. This ship is 680 feet long, and is not made of one thickness or case of iron plates, but is upon a new principle called the “cellular,” consisting of an outer and inner casing of iron plates held together by partitions of iron so as to separate them into square compartments or “cells.” The objects gained by this arrangement are greater strength, and greater safety, for in case of injury to the outer portion, the water would enter only between the two in that compartment where the injury happened to be, and so fill only that small portion with water. The whole ship is also divided into compartments by means of double screens of iron, making it like a fire-proof box, and even if a fire should occur in one of these, the others would be preserved from its effects. The masts and yards of this great ship are also of hollow wrought iron plates rivetted together, and are both stronger and lighter than they would be of wood. A machine is placed at the lower part of each mast which by compressing, can crush it up, and cause it to break off and fall over the side of the vessel in case such a thing should be required, as in a very violent storm; and the standing rigging, which is of wire-rope, can be let loose in a few minutes so as to completely free the ship of the mast. This great ship is constructed to be propelled both by screw and paddles; the screw engines are four in number, and are each of 1,600 horse power, the paddle engines are also four, of 1000 horse power each, being 10,800 altogether. They will require about 180 tons of coal a day to work them; 12,000 tons of which are capable of being carried. The Leviathan will have six masts, and be able to spread 6,500 yards of sail, will accommodate 4000 passengers, and when ready to sail, with all on board, will weigh about 25,000 tons.
CANALS AND LOCKS.
DOUBLE LOCK.
Canals are artificial water-courses, either for the purpose of connecting rivers, or for forming water communication for the conveyance of goods. There are about 2200 miles of canal-way in England, which is still in complete requisition, and but little affected by the enormous goods traffic of the railways. Canals afford a means of slow but cheap conveyance for heavy or bulky goods, not requiring a rapid transit, for the more rapid the pace the greater the resistance of the water. The usual rate of transit is somewhere about two-and-a-half miles an hour, at which pace a horse can draw about four times as much on water as he can on a railway, and about thirty times as much as on a level turnpike road; but if a greater speed were to be obtained, it is found that the resistance of the water would impede it so much, that at the rate of five miles an hour a horse could draw no more than he could on a railway, and at ten miles only a quarter as much.
In constructing canals, it is important to have a good supply of water, and this is generally secured by turning all the springs and streams in its course into it, or deriving its source at its highest level from a large river. The same works have often to be constructed on the line of canals that are required on railways, such as bridges, cuttings, embankments, tunnels, &c., and besides these, contrivances peculiar to canals, called “locks,” which are now to be described.
Locks are barriers or doors constructed so that these artificial rivers may be carried over rising ground and through valleys, without the labour and expense of cutting through the hills and filling up the hollows as would be required without them. Railways can be constructed on ground which is not quite level without any embankment or cutting, as it is not absolutely required that railways shall be perfectly level. But water always will be level, unless it is constantly flowing, as is the case with streams, and these only sink a few inches in a mile, or else they become so rapid, that if attempted to be imitated in canals, they would be useless; for it would require too much power to draw any vessel up the canal against such a stream, and would moreover require more water to supply them than can commonly be obtained. The means therefore adopted to overcome this difficulty are gates, or in other words, a pair of “locks.” The canal is constructed in such a manner that it shall be perfectly level for a certain distance, then sink down some ten or twelve feet at once, and again flow on a level and sink down. These sudden lowerings are effected as follows: two pairs of thick solid doors of wood are fitted to shut in the water, and another pair a short distance further on; behind these the bed of the canal is lowered the required distance. When a barge or other vessel has to pass down the canal the first pair of gates are opened, and the barge floated in between them and the second pair, the first pair are now closed, and the water beyond the second pair being lower, that between the gates in which the barge floats is let out by means of a valve worked by a rack and wheel; when this valve is raised the water flows out and sinks down to the level of the water beyond, carrying the barge with it; in a few minutes it is so low that, the second gates being opened, the barge is drawn out and continues on its way. But suppose the barge had to be brought up the canal, then it is floated into the space between the gates (as before), and the one behind the barge closed, the water beyond the gate in front being higher, is let into the space where the barge is by a valve, and this filling, lifts up the barge to the level of that in front, the front gates are then opened and the barge proceeds onwards. These gates are never made to shut level, but meet at an angle with the point towards the highest water, which is done that they may resist the great pressure which the water exerts, and for turning this to advantage, for this very pressure shuts the gates and keeps them close together. The canals which have much traffic on them have double locks, as in the engraving, that barges may go up and down at the same time without having to wait for each other. The barges and boats are generally “towed” or drawn by a horse attached to a rope, and walking on a “towing path” or road at the side of the canal.
THE END.