The explosion at Greenwich in 1803 was made much of, though the
fault was clearly not in the boiler. Three years afterwards, in
1806, a steam-cylinder burst in Wales, therefore Mr. Williams, a
large shareholder in Dolcoath, objected to the use of high-pressure
expansive steam in their large Watt pumping engine, and desired their
engineer, Mr. Sims, to make a competitive trial after his own fashion.
At Condurrow Mine one of Trevithick's engines was to be ordered if the
Foxes and Williamses did not object; and so it was that Trevithick's
high-pressure steam-boiler was not ordered, and the Watt vacuum engine
was for a longer time to receive no increase of power.
"Some of Captain Dick's early boilers had flattish or oval fire-tubes.
In 1820 I repaired an old one in Wheal Clowance Mine in Gwinear. The
flat top had come down a little; we put in a line of bolts, fastening
the top of the tube to the outer casing.
"About 1818 I saw in Carsize Mine in Gwinear a pumping engine that
Captain Dick had put up. The boiler was a cylinder of cast iron, with
a wrought-iron tube going through its length in which the fire was
placed. The steam-cylinder was vertical, fixed in the boiler. She had
an air-pump and worked with a four-way cock. The steam was about 100
lbs. to the inch."[68]
[Footnote 68: Banfield's recollections in 1869.]
"About 1820 I removed one of Captain Trevithick's early high-pressure
whim-engines from Creuver and Wheal Abraham, and put it as a pumping
engine in Wheal Kitty, where it continued at work for about fifteen
years. The boiler was of cast iron, in two lengths bolted together,
about 6 feet in diameter and 10 feet long. At one end a piece was
bolted, into which the cylinder was fixed, so that it had the steam
and water around it. There was an internal wrought-iron tube that
turned back again to the fire-door end, where the wrought-iron chimney
was fixed; the fire-grate end of the tube was about 2 feet 6 inches
in diameter, and tapered down to about 1 foot 6 inches at the chimney
end. It was a puffer, working 60 lbs. of steam to the inch; it worked
very well. There were several others in the county at that time
something like it. It was made at the Neath Abbey Works in Wales."[69]
[Footnote 69: Recollections of Captain G. Eustace, engineer, residing at
Hayle, 1868.]
These boilers were of the kind first tried in Cornwall about 1800. The
oval tube in the Kensington model of 1798 continued in use in Cornwall
for many years. The cast-iron outer casing was soon abandoned, though
one of them in Wales remained in work fifty years, using steam of 60
lbs. to 100 lbs. to the inch.
"MY DEAR JANE,
"HAYLE FOUNDRY, _August 26th, 1810_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account