THE FIRST STEP.
The occupation of Asia, so long determined on by Russia, was a problem most difficult of solution. Many years were spent in devising ways and means to navigate the Aral Sea—the first thought being to transport machinery and material for the construction of steamers over the mountains—a project which was at length abandoned as impracticable.
But a solution was at hand. In the year 1860 a novel system for the construction of vessels was introduced in Great Britain by an American, through whose efforts a Company was formed and an extensive factory established at Liverpool. This Company, on proof of the value of its system of construction, secured a contract with the British Government to construct a number of steamers for the East India Company of Bengal—Moorshedaba.
As an evidence of the financial solidity of this company, and the class of men who invested their capital in that concern, it may be mentioned that Sir Charles Manby, the great English civil engineer, was President, while such men as Sir Robert Stephenson, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and John Hamilton, also well-known as an eminent engineer, were members and stockholders. The entire capital and membership of the Company belonged in London—Liverpool simply being selected as a factory site.
The steamers under course of construction by this Company were 150 and 200 feet long, built on the new system of
CORRUGATED GALVANIZED IRON,
three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. By this system the weight of hull of a vessel was reduced one-third and the draft reduced in proportion, while the strength was increased two-fold by means of the corrugations covering the entire outer surface of the hull, which corrugations take the place of frames or timbers, thus increasing the interior capacity of a boat of given draft while vastly increasing her strength. The great utility and superior qualities of this mode of construction was fully demonstrated by the building of several supply boats for the British Navy, as well as military wagons for the Army, and other constructions on the same principle for miscellaneous purposes. The steamers built by this company were so constructed that they could be
DISJOINTED AND TRANSPORTED IN SECTIONS,
being so arranged that they could be set up and taken apart with the utmost celerity, and without the aid of more than passable shipbuilding or mechanical knowledge. This unique and valuable system of ship construction was invented by Joseph Francis, an American born, and justly celebrated as founder of the United States Life-Saving Service, for which, at a late day, he received the