a want of due caution on the part of those whose business it is to guard the lives and property of the public, confided to their skill and watchful care.

Besides the ordinary class of accidents, there is another class of which we have on record several accounts within a few years, and one very recently, of a still more awful and distressing nature. I have reference to the burning of a boat at sea, where the passengers and crew have no alternative, but must either burn or drown.

I do not recollect having read any efficient mode proposed for extinguishing fire on board a boat, nor any other theory recomended than the ordinary mode with buckets and a fire engine.

Believing that there is always ready at hand and available, with proper fixtures, in every steamboat, an agent much more efficient than water and an ordinary engine to extinguish fire. I deem it a duty to make the suggestion, that others who may be disposed, and have better means than I can command, may try experiments upon it, and test the utility of the theory.

From the few imperfect experiments my means have permited, I am of opinion, that steam is far preferable to water to extinguish fire. For steam can be made to enter every apartment, birth, and crevice, even where water could not possibly be thrown, and being lighter than air it keeps the space filled instead of falling to the bottom as water would do, and can be as effective on the under side of a ceiling, deck, or floor as it would be on the top, and even more so.

The first that I ever noticed of the effect of steam upon flame was several years since, by carrying a lighted lamp into a room in a dye-house that was filled with steam, and the light was instantly extinguished.

Again, when the steam was issuing from the nose of a teakettle, I have taken a bright coal of fire and held it in the steam, and the fire was quenched in as short a time as if it had been immersed in water, and as effectually through the coal.

Now if the theory be true (which, I confess, needs further experiment and stronger proof) a comparatively trifling expense may furnish every steamboat with certain and available means of readily extinguishing a fire, if it should take in the woodwork of the boat, or in the freight, either on or under deck.

I would propose the following mode of operation. Let a pipe, say a gas pipe, or any other that shall be of strength sufficient to bear the pressure of the steam, be connected with the boiler, either directly or indirectly, at pleasure, and be carried to every apartment in the boat. And in as many places as may be thought expedient, insert stopcocks of such construction that they can be readily and easily opened at any time and by

any person.

In case of a fire in any apartment the occupants would of course leave the apartment as soon as possible, and when the apartment should be vacated, let the stopcocks be opened, and force in as much steam as would be practicable. Under deck, and in a close apartment, it would have a double advantage over water, for it would, in a great measure, exclude the air from feeding the flame, at the same time it produced an effect by its moisture, but the greatest effect would undoubtedly be produced by the excluding of the air.

In addition to the foregoing, I would attach pipes and carry them on each side of the engine, fore and aft, upon the deck some thirty or forty feet, and at the terminations, I would affix "gooseneck joints," and to these attach several lengths of pipe in joints of six or eight feet, and then another" gooseneck" and to this attach a directing and discharging pipe

of about the same length as the other joints, all the connections to be made with screw joints, or couplings.

The two goosenecks would enable the man having charge of the pipe to convey and use the steam on any part of the deck, with nearly as great facility as water would be conveyed and used with a hose: and, if necessary, any number of goosenecks may be used.

To enable the men to handle and use the pipes without burning their hands, let some two or three feet of each joint of pipe be incased in, or near the middle, with a tin or sheet brass cylinder (brass is preferable,) one inch, more or less, at pleasure, greater than the steam pipes, and fill the space between the two pipes with pulverized charcoal, pipe clay, or soapstone dust, and outside of the exterior cylinder wind on some two or three thicknesses of woolen cloth, and this will fully protect the hands of the men in moving and directing the pipes.

It is thought that this mode of extinguishing a fire in a boat may be more effective than a fire engine, and may always be available at the moment it may be needed, whereas, with a fire engine, there must always be a delay, and frequently, perhaps generally, much difficulty in supplying it with water and in getting it into action, and more difficulty, in the terror and confusion in getting hands to work it; and these unavoidable difficulties, it is presumed, would, in most instances, let the fire get such headway that no power on earth could arrest its progress; and inevitable destruction is the consequence.

In any situation, a single bucket of water when a fire first takes, is of more effect than an ocean after the building is envoloped in flames. And on board a boat, especially, it is necessary to stop the progress of a fire immediately and with the least possible delay, for if the wind did not blow, the motion of the boat would produce a current of air sufficient to kindle a fire rapidly.

In general it would be favorable, in a case of a fire, to run the boat directly before the wind, and this would, in a measure, neutralize its effect ; but circumstances might alter the case in this respect.

As too much precaution, to preserve and render life and property safe, cannot be used, whether philantrophic motives, or those arising from self interest on the part of steamboat owners, be consulted, every boat should be well and constantly furnished with every possible means of safety or escape in case of accidents of any kind.

For one such catastrophe as that of the Lexington, is enough to deter thousands who would otherwise patronize steamboats with perfect confidence, from risking their lives and property on board a boat, for years. And unless some sure measures can be adopted and put in general use to render safety more certain to the public than has been the case, in very many instances, every year since stearn got into general use as a motive power; this mode of conveyance and travelling ought to be totally abandoned.

But it is thought, by not a few, that most of the accidents are chargeable, in a very great degree, to neglect of duty and proper precaution, and to the want of preventive means on the part of those who own, as well as of those whose business it is to manage steamboats, and that it is fully practicable to render them as safe as any other mode of travelling.

I am not fully confident that there is any value in my hints respecting extinguishing fire by steam; but trust the reader will not impugn my motives even if he shall feel inclined to reject my theory as worthless.

If it have no other value than to draw from other and more ingenious minds some further and better views on the subject that may ultimately lead

to the adoption of better modes to ensure safety, I shall feel fully compensated and highly gratified.--Journal Franklin Institute.

Improved railway track.-A patent has been recently issued for improvements in the manner of constructing the tracks of railroads, invented by JAMES HERRON, Esq., Civil Engineer, a gentleman of much practical experience in the particular department of buisiness to which the invention. appertains. The defects of the existing modes of construction are too apparent to need insisting upon; the early and very injurious production of both horizontal and lateral undulations not only interferes materially with the tractive power of the locomotive, but is the pregnant cause of a large proportion of the accidents incident to this mode of conveyance. The perpetual necessity for, and the heavy cost of, repairs are also evils of no small magnitude. The improved mode of construction devised by Mr. Herron is intended, among other things, to give a stability to the road which the plans now in use do not afford, and to render the structure of more easy repair, without any increase, and it is believed with a diminution, of the first cost. In the proposed system, the string-pieces which support the iron rails are not to rest in notches made in cross-ties, but are to be connected together by means of plank, firmly secured on their under sides, and extending obliquely from one string-piece to the other, in such a manner as to constitute lateral and diagonal braces, and to prevent all danger of their spreading. These tie-plank are to rest upon the road, which is to be evenly graded for this purpose. The proposed manner of connecting the stringpieces with each other, and with the iron rails and other parts of the track, is intended, and well calculated, to give to the whole a degree of firmness which shall enable any and every part of it to constitute a bridge, over which the locomotive and its train would securely pass, although a considerable portion of the supporting ground might be washed away.

It will be obvious that track thus constructed, as it bears evenly and equally upon every portion of the graded road, will have little or no tendency to settle, except by the settling of the road itself, such as takes place in newly-made embankinents, and that it may be raised to its proper level with a facility not offerd by any other mode of structure.

The specification of this patent is of great length, and embraces many devices for securely uniting the frame work of timber, and likewise the iron rails, so as to combine firmness with the requisite degree of elasticity, all of which display the handiwork of one familiar with the business under consideration; and, although they may be said, in several instances, to be untried projects, they are still projects well worth trying, as they must answer the intended purpose perfectly well, even should they not be found so superior to the methods previously in use, as it is believed they will. The writer of this article has just been informed that it has been determined to give a fair trial to the plan, along a mile or two of road, at a very early day. He has no other interest in the matter than that felt by every citizen who glories in the onward progress of his country. The present moment, it is true, is a most unfavorable one for the trial of new projects; but the existing state of things cannot long endure. The native energy, elasticity, and resources of our favored land will, at an early day, enable us to resume the most important of our public works. Our means of intercommunication must and will be extended; and, in the mean time, it is desirable that we should ascertain and determine the best mode of procedure. The laying of a mile or two of track upon Mr. Herron's plan would, in one particular, accomplish this object to a certain extent, as, after the lapse of a few months, its relative value would be satisfactorily ascertained.National Inteligence.

PRESERVATION OF TIMBER.-We understand that Dr. EARLE'S method of preserving Timber (the merits of which are so well attested,) is being extensively employed under authority of the War Department.

We insert with pleasure, the following communication of Mr. Ward, as it enables us to remove a misapprehension, existing in the mind of that gentleman, which is certainly calculated to do us and others, injustice. At the same time we are glad to find that Mr. W. has taken our remarks in good part.

Our sole object, is to elicit truth, and to avoid error-we shall therefore insert the communication, and append such remarks as we consider neces

sary.

To the Editors of the American Railroad Journal and Mechanic' Msagazine.

GENTLEMEN:-The first May number of your Journal, contains some remarks upon a letter of mine, published in a previous number, in which I made some comments upon Professor Renwick's paper "on the steamboats of the United States of America:" and I fear I am doing you injustice by treating these remarks as your own, but I see no way of avoiding that, as you have endorsed them "editorial." To some of these, I wish to make a brief reply. I pass over what is said about "warmth of manner," and "sweeping assertion, not borne out by practice," and proceed to your remark "to render this table complete, we should have the average velocity of the vessels-the number of strokes per minute, and the area of the immersed portion of the transverse section. We should then be able to form some idea of the proportion of the engines to the vessel, and of the amount of power expended in obtaining high velocities. Without these elements, the comparison to be fair, should only be between vessels having the same size, and moving at the same rate. We should then be better able to oppose facts and theory.'" Now, with regard to the table, I must beg you to examine it again, and I think you will find it was only design

ed to show the rate of consumption of fuel in different engines, to procure a given amount of power-a matter which has no connection whatever with the size, or form, or velocity of the vessels containing the engines, and which could have been done just as well if each engine had been employed at a different kind of work. If to produce the power of one horse in one engine, it requires three times the amount of fuel that it does to produce the same amount of power in another engine, no change of size or form or speed of the vessel containing them, could affect the rate of consumption. And if you will attentively examine the table, you will find the amount of fuel required to produce a given amount of power, in each of the engines named, is clearly set down.

You have next made some remarks upon the practice of working steam expansively, and quoted some opinions in its favor. On this subject, I have only to say, that so far from denying its advantages, I said nothing about it in my former letter, and am decidedly in favor of the practice, on account of its economy. But I take the liberty to add, that all its advantages may be obtained without resorting to the dangerous pressure of 57 lbs. per square inch, or even venturing into its neighborhood.

Your criticism upon the inference that Prof. Renwick supposed something else than the "mere pressure of steam," is generally the cause of explosions I am obliged to let pass, for the reason that I am entirely unable to understand them. In your concluding paragraph, you say, "the testimony of almost all practical and well informed men is, that the mere use of steam of 40 or 50 pounds pressure per square inch, as in locomotive boilers, etc., is not the cause of danger; and that the use of such pressures in boilers of competent strength, skilfully managed, is less dangerous, if not more economical, than a low pressure, depended upon as safe, merely because it is a low pressure." With regard to this, I have to remark, that if nearly thirty years attentive study of the steam engine, and no inconsiderable practice in the building and management of it during that time, entitles any one to be called a practical man, I have some claim to that appellation. And during the time I have been connected with the steam engine, I heve been acquainted with no inconsiderable number of practical men in this country and abroad, and nineteen twentieths of all that I have known, have been clearly of opinion that "the mere pressure of steam," is abundantly sufficient, to cause the explosion of steam boilers, however well they may be made, or however skilfully and carefully the engines attached to them, may be managed.

I am, gentlemen, your obt. servt.
JOHN D. WARD.

Novelty Works, 15th May, 1840.

In the first place, we wish to disabuse Mr. Ward of an error, into which he has fallen in regard to the authorship of the remarks here commented upon. In his communication, it will be perceived that an insinuation is thrown out that we have "endorsed as editorial," that which has been written by another, either wholly or in part.