A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine

by Robert Henry Thurston

“It is obvious that, to derive advantage from an application of this principle, it is absolutely necessary that the vessel or vessels for generating steam should have strength sufficient to withstand the great pressure from an increase of elasticity in the steam; but this pressure is increased or diminished in proportion to the capacity of the containing vessel. The principle, then, of this invention consists in forming a boiler by means of a system, or combination of a number of small vessels, instead of using, as in the usual mode, one large one; the relative strength of the materials of which these vessels are composed increasing in proportion to the diminution of capacity. It will readily occur that there are an infinite variety of possible modes of effecting such combinations; but, from the nature of the case, there are certain limits beyond which it becomes impracticable to carry on improvement. In the boiler I am about to describe, I apprehend that the improvement is carried to the utmost extent of which the principle is capable. Suppose a plate of brass of one foot square, in which a number of holes are perforated; into each of which holes is fixed one end of a copper tube, of about an inch in diameter and two feet long; and the other ends of these tubes inserted in like manner into a similar piece of brass; the tubes, to insure their tightness, to be cast in the plates; these plates are to be inclosed at each end of the pipes by a strong cap of cast-iron or brass, so as to leave a space of an inch or two between the plates or ends of the pipes and the cast-iron cap at each end; the caps at each end are to be fastened by screw-bolts passing through them into the plates; the necessary supply of water is to be injected by means of a forcing-pump into the cap at one end, and through a tube inserted into the cap at the other end the steam is to be conveyed to the cylinder of the steam-engine; the whole is then to be encircled in brickwork or masonry in the usual manner, placed either horizontally or perpendicularly, at option.

“I conceive that the boiler above described embraces the most eligible mode of applying the principle before mentioned, and that it is unnecessary to give descriptions of the variations in form and construction that may be adopted, especially as these forms may be diversified in many different modes.”

Boilers of the character of those described in the specification given above were used on the locomotive built by John Stevens in 1824-’25, and one of them remains in the collections of the Stevens Institute of Technology.

The use of such a boiler 70 years ago is even more remarkable than the adoption of the screw-propeller, in such excellent proportions, 30 years before the labors of Smith and of Ericsson brought the screw into general use; and we have, in this strikingly original combination, as good evidence of the existence of unusual engineering talent in this great engineer as we found of his political and statesmanlike ability in his efforts to forward the introduction of railways.

Colonel John Stevens designed a peculiar form of iron-clad in the year 1812, which has been since reproduced by no less distinguished and successful an engineer than the late John Elder, of Glasgow, Scotland. It consisted of a saucer-shaped hull, carrying a heavy battery, and plated with iron of ample thickness to resist the shot fired from the heaviest ordnance then known. This vessel was secured to a swivel, and was anchored in the channel to be defended. A set of screw-propellers, driven by steam-engines, and situated beneath the vessel, where they were safe against injury by shot, were so arranged as to permit the vessel to be rapidly revolved about its centre. As each gun was brought into line of fire, it was discharged, and was then reloaded before coming around again. This was probably the earliest embodiment of the now well-established “Monitor” principle. It was probably the first iron-clad ever designed. It has recently been again brought out and introduced into the Russian navy, and is there called the “Popoffka.”

The first of Stevens’s boats performed so well, that he immediately built another one, using the same engine as before, but employing a larger boiler, and propelling the vessel by twin screws, the latter being another instance of his use of a device brought forward long afterward as new, and frequently adopted. This boat was sufficiently successful to prove the practicability of making steam-navigation a commercial success; and Stevens, assisted by his sons, built a boat which he named the “Phœnix,” and made the first trial in 1807, but just too late to anticipate Fulton. This boat was driven by paddle-wheels.

Fig. 86.—Stevens’s Twin-Screw Steamer, 1805.

The Phœnix, being shut out of the waters of the State of New York by the monopoly held by Fulton and Livingston, was used for a time between New York and New Brunswick, and then, anticipating a better pecuniary return, it was concluded to send her to Philadelphia, to ply on the Delaware.