Ques. 6. What was the length of the boilers, on the Ben Franklin that you ran on, and the height of her chimneys? Ans. I think her boilers were 24 feet long. She had 6 boilers. They were 38 inches in diameter; with two flues in each boiler. I do not know the height of her chimneys; but I should judge they were about 60 feet from the flues; they might have been more, she was a large boat. Ques. 7. What sort of fuel do you use on the Simon Kenton; and how much do you burn in 12 hours? Ans. We use wood and coal together in running up; and for the last year we have burnt coal, altogether, in coming down. The distance from Cincinnati, to Maysville, is about 65 miles; and we generally run it in going up, in from 7 to 8 hours, including stoppages. We have a good many stoppages to make. We are about the same time in coming down. We usually burn about 10 cords of wood and about 50 bushels of coal, in going up, including the stoppages; and from 140 to 150 bushels of coal in coming down. [Adjourned to meet at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 18th instant. And the commissioner and the same counsel met at the Galt House in Louisville, on the 18th of November, 1850, and resumed the examination of witnesses, at that place.] Jesse Hart, A witness sworn on the part of the complainant. Ques. 1. Where do you reside, and what is your age? Ans. I reside in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and am 62 years of age. Ques. 2. Have you been engaged in the steamboat navigation of the Ohio river? If yea, in what capacity, and how long? Ans. I was formerly engaged in navigating the Ohio from Pittsburgh to various ports below, off and on for about 10 years. Since 1835 I have been engaged entirely in the lower trade, with the exception of bringing down a steamboat from Pittsburgh. I have been commander of a boat for 22 years, with the exception of the last three or four years. Ques. 3. What changes have been made in the construction of steamboats, navigating the Ohio river, since you have been engaged in the business, in respect to the dimensions of the boats and of their chimneys? Ans. There have been very great changes since I first commenced steamboating. The boats have been steadily increasing in size. The boats on the upper part of the Ohio have been increased more than double in length and capacity; and their chimneys have increased in the same proportion both in diameter and height. We did not have very high chimneys at that time. The diameter and height of the chimneys have increased nearly double. In early times our engines did not have half the power that they now have. The boilers in early days were very short; they did not require as long chimneys as they do now. In 1828 I commanded the Trenton, one of the largest boats that ran regularly to and from Pittsburgh. I think she was about 110 feet long, she was not over 115 feet long. I think she was not over 22 feet breadth of beam. She drew from 4 to 5 feet of water, when light. I think she had 5 boilers, of not over 16 feet in length; and from 32 to 34 inches in diameter; with one flue in each boiler. I do not recollect the height and diameter of her chimneys; but I think she passed under the bridge at Louisville without lowering her chimneys. Ques. 4. State whether in your opinion these changes have proved beneficial, and what effect they have produced upon the commerce of the river? Ans. They have been decidedly beneficial. The increased size of the boats and the increased speed have been the means of cheapening the transportation of freight and passengers, and settling the country much faster than would otherwise have been done. Ques. 5. What are the dimensions of the boats running as regular packets from above, and from below the falls of the Ohio, as compared with those that pass through the canal? Ans. They are much larger in every respect. The boats that pass through the canal have more depth of hold in proportion to their size than those that run above or below the falls. They can not compete in speed with those that run from above and from below. There are boats below the fails that will carry from 1000 to 1200 tons, and they are increasing in size. The first class of packets that run from Louisville to New Orleans usually can carry from 800 to 900 tons. Ques. 6. Suppose the Louisville canal to be enlarged, or the falls improved, so as to admit the passage of large boats; what would be the effect upon the dimensions of packets trading from Pittsburgh to St. Louis and other ports below the falls? Ans. I have not a doubt but the boats would be made much longer. In all other trades they have been steadily increasing in length. But those that pass the canal have been confined to the length of the canal locks. I think they would have more breadth of beam also. Many of the boats that pass the canal have to make recesses in their hulls; to enable them to get through with their wheels. Ques. 7. State whether lowering steamboat chimneys, in order to pass a bridge, is attended with any danger, expense or delay, and in what particulars? Ans. I should consider lowering any heavy body always a risk. I believe they have got their chimneys so fixed now that it does not require much delay. Ques. 8. What effect has lowering chimneys upon their duration? Ans. I can hardly tell. With the means they now have for lowering I should not think it would have any very serious effect; but I have not had much means of judging. Ques. 9. State whether you are now engaged in building a steamboat; if yea, where and for what trade, and what are her dimensions? Ans. I am now building a boat at New Albany, to be called the Brilliant, to run from New Orleans to Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi, 160 miles from New Orleans. She is about 228 feet long, 36 feet breadth of beam, and 7 feet 4 inches depth of hold. She has 5 boilers, 30 feet long, 40 inches in diameter; with 2 flues in each boiler 16 inches in diameter. Her chimneys are 60 feet long from the top of the britching, as the builder told me. They are 60 inches in diameter, I think. She has 2 cylinders 30 inches in diameter and 8 feet stroke. Her wheels are 34 feet in diameter; with 12 feet buckets. Ques. 10. What is your opinion of the safety of lowering such chimneys as those of the Brilliant, in order to pass a bridge? Ans. Without being very securely fixed I should think there was a good deal of danger. It could not be very well done, with safety, without it was in a calm day. Cross-examination. Ques. 1. At the time the Trenton was one of the largest boats running regularly to and from Pittsburgh, what was the size of the largest boats that ran below the falls, as compared with her? Ans. I am under the impression that there were boats running below the falls that could carry twice, if not three times as much, as the Trenton. Ques. 2. At the time the Louisville canal was first opened, could all the boats which ran below the falls pass through that canal? Ans. I think they could all pass through; so far as the length and breadth of the boat was concerned; but whether their chimneys were low enough to pass under the bridge, I can not say. Ques. 3. At that time, and until boats began to be built too long for the locks, what difference in dimensions was there between the boats which ran from Pittsburgh to ports below the falls, and boats which confined themselves to the trade below the falls? Ans. Those boats that ran below the falls were comparatively the largest; although they were all of them short and narrow enough to pass through the canal. Ques. 4. Among those boats which now are accustomed to pass through the canal, are not those which are built to run no higher up than Cincinnati, generally larger than those which are built to run as high up the river as Pittsburgh? Ans. I am not able to answer. Ques. 5. Do you know how the length of boilers and the amount of power, used by the largest Cincinnati and New Orleans boats that pass through the canal, compare with those of the largest packets that run above Cincinnati? Ans. I am not able to say. Ques. 6. Did you not build, in 1842, at Pittsburgh, a boat called the Brilliant, for the same trade for which the boat you are now building is designed? Ans. I did. Ques. 7. What were her dimensions? Ans. She was about 200 feet long, 34 feet breadth of beam, and 7 feet depth of hold. She had five boilers, 26 feet long, 40 inches in diameter; with two flues in each boiler. Her chimneys were very small, as to diameter and height, as compared with those of the boat I am now building. I do not recollect their size; but my impressions are that the chimneys of the former boat were as much as one-third less in sectional area, and one-fourth less in height than those of the present boat. Her cylinders were 25 inches in diameter, and 10 feet stroke. For the grate surface of the present boat, the bars are 4 feet long, and the furnace is about 20 feet wide. The furnace will be 18 inches deep; and to burn coal I expect to reduce it to 16 inches. I am making my grates an inch and a half between the bars, and the bars are to be about one inch in width on their face; to enable more air to pass through them. Ques. 8. How did the Brilliant, which you built in 1842, compare, as to her dimensions, with the largest boats then running on the Mississippi? Ans. There were boats then running of double her capacity. The trade for which she was built limited the dimensions of the boat. In proportion to her size, her engines were larger than other boats then built. Ques. 9. What was the length of the longest boilers in use in 1842 on the Ohio or the Mississippi; as far as you know? Ans. There were not then more than one or two boats, if any, that had boilers longer than those of the Brilliant that I then built; so far as I remember. Ques. 10. Did the largest boats which ran 10 or 12 years ago, on the Ohio river, not use about the same amount of power that they do now? Ans. I think not. I am sure they did not. My impressions are that they had not much more than one half the power they have now. The boilers were not as long nor the engines as large. They usually ran with a pressure of from 125 to 175 pounds, I should think. The engineers on many of them did not know what a great pressure of steam they were carrying. Ques. 11. How did the Brilliant, built in 1842, compare with the best Louisville and New Orleans packets of that day, as to dimensions and power? Ans. She was about a medium sized boat in length. Her engines, regarding the size of the boat, would be larger than the best New Orleans and Louisville boats generally. In point of accommodations she was equal to any of them. I do not think there was any regular trader between New Orleans and Louisville, that was much better in point of speed, in 1842, than the Brilliant. Before her death there were several that were faster.. She died in 1847. Her carpenter's tonnage was from 450 to 500 tons. Ques. 12. What will be the draft of water of the boat you are now building, when light; and what will it be when loaded? Ans. I suppose she will draw 4 feet when light; and as much. as 8 feet when loaded. We are not limited as to draft of water, in the trade for which she is built. Boats are built in reference to the draft of water adapted to the trade in which they are to be engaged; and the Louisville and New Orleans boats, of the same class, are built with lighter water draft than the boat I am building. Ques. 13. How many passengers could you accommodate on the Brilliant, in 1842? Ans. I could not furnish state rooms for over 70 passengers, but could bed about 90. In the boat I am now building I can furnish state rooms for 82; and could bed 50 more. William Stewart, NOVEMBER 19, 1850. A witness sworn on the part of the defendants. Ques. 1. Where do you reside, and what is your age? Ques. 2. State what experience you have had in the navigation of the Ohio river, and in the construction of steamboats for that river and other rivers? Ans. I have been connected with the navigation of the Ohio since 1827. I boated on the Ohio river as captain from 1827 to 1832, or a little longer. I was engaged after that in building steamboats, off and on, up to the present time. I have occasionally made a trip, on boats built by me; as commander. I was commander on boats on the Alabama river, a part of the time, in the winter of 1839 and 1840. In the winter of 1840 and 1841 I commanded a boat all the time; and most of the time in the winter of 1841 and 1842. I was engaged there in boating, up to the winter of 1846; not as commander, but as having several boats in charge. I have built a good many steamboats, as many as 40 or 50; and about one half of them were for the navi gation of the Ohio. I have built some large boats and a good many small ones and moderate sized boats. I built the Emperor, in 1834 or 1835, at Pittsburgh. She was something over 200 feet long; 33 or 34 feet breadth of beam, and about 60 feet in the extreme width. She had about 8 feet depth of hold; and was about the largest boat running on any part of the Ohio at that time, and was the largest boat I ever built. She was built to run below the falls. She drew from 3 to 4 feet water when light. She at that time was considered a light boat in proportion to her size. She had 8 boilers 28 feet long, I think; 36 or 38 inches in diameter; with two flues in each boiler of 13 inches in diameter. Her cylinders were 22 inches in diameter and 8 feet stroke. She had two engines. Her grate bars were about 4 feet long, and her furnace was about 30 feet wide and 16 inches deep, from the boilers to the grate bars. She was built for burning wood. |