Page images
PDF
EPUB

hose-for fear of accident, two at each end. These were carried some distance above the water, and one of them was supplied by the ship's pumps discharging into it continuously, the surplus passing out of the upper end of one of the others. As a further precaution against the admission of water at the gunwale, there was a flap of Brussels carpeting four inches wide, the inner edge battened to the outside of the gunwale, and the outer sewn to a bolt rope to prevent it from being drawn into the joint. As the hose answered its purpose, there was not draft to hold the flap to the side of the ship. The caisson was built bottom up for convenience of planking, launched that way, and towed to the derrick at the Novelty Works and turned over, and then towed to the ship. To bring the caisson into position two heavy timbers were placed on the ship's deck, and projected over the side at the extremities of the caisson in position. Two heavy timbers were also placed in like manner for hoisting the entrance shafts. Blocks and tackle were attached to the extremities of these timbers, and connected with the caisson and shafts, and with the ship's capstan; chains, secured to eye bolts in the port side of the caisson near its ends, were carried down beneath the bottom of the ship, and were drawn up and secured by tackles at the starboard side of the ship; 2 chains led up to the davit tackle on the port side of the ship. To overcome the buoyancy of the caisson 26 tons of iron ballast were necessary, and the engineers determined to use chains for this purpose, as when the caisson was in position the chains could be drawn out through the entrance shafts readily, and the caisson would then be pressed against the ship by its regained buoyancy. To guide the caisson as it was lowered, and to have the means of determining readily when it was in position, a large log 4 feet longer than the caisson was ballasted and hauled under the ship by chains at each end until its port side, which would be next the caisson, was 18 inches to the starboard of the required position of the starboard gunwale. The position of the log laterally was determined by the length of the chains as let down from the port side of the ship; the log was let down a little ahead of its position, and then drawn end ways according to the directions of the diver. Wire rope guides (a, fig. 3) had already been attached to each end of the log at a distance apart to admit of the length of the caisson between them, the loose ends of these ropes were brought up the port side of the ship and passed through eye bolts in the ends of the caisson to guide it as it was lowered into its place; the upper ends of the rope were secured to tackles at the extremities of the end davits, so that they could be slacked or tautened at pleasure. The ballast having been distributed in the caisson so that it floated at about the angle at which it was to be placed, it was filled with water by the ship's pumps, the

port chains being kept taut; when filled it sank and was lowered by the port chains to the proper angle to receive the upper sections of the entrance shafts, which had already been raised by the intermediate davits; the shafts were then lowered and connected with the nozzles on the caisson by bolts passing through their flanges. As soon as the entrance shafts were attached the caisson was lowered by slacking the tackles at the four davits until it had sunk a certain measured distance determined by the length of the port chains; as it sank it glided down the wire rope guides left purposely slack. Then the caisson was drawn laterally against the ship by taking up the starboard chains, and at the same time guided to its place by tightening the guide ropes. When in contact with the ship and nearly in position, divers were sent to report its progress, to see whether it covered the fracture, and whether its gunwale would come upon the centre of an outside strake. When drawn into its right position 4 heavy hawsers were placed under it and the ship, to cramp it against the ship; these were hauled tight by the ship's capstan; the chain ballast was then drawn out, another pull taken at chains and hawsers, and then to make a still greater strain wedges were driven between them and the sides of the ship. The caisson was held in its place longitudinally by 2 chains, one secured to an eye bolt in the front end of the caisson, and carried forward at the side of the ship, ahead of the paddle box; the other chain was attached to the rear end of the caisson, and carried aft into one of the stern hawse holes. As first arranged, the pump (Andrew's centrifugal) was secured in its place, at the end of the frame K, before the caisson left the ship yard, and an intermediate shaft attached before the caisson was lowered. The small hose was connected at the same time with the gunwale hose, and when the caisson was in position, a line was attached to the loose end by the diver, and it was drawn up. In order to permit the divers to examine the interior gunwale of the caisson, a foot board was secured to brackets around the caisson about 4 feet from the gunwale; and at the suggestion of Capt. Paton, cords with knots corresponding to their distances from the forward end of the caisson, were attached at every fathom to enable the diver to ascertain his position by feeling. On examination the divers reported that the cross timbers of the caisson bore against the ship in certain places where the plates were bulged out, whilst at their ends the gunwale was not in contact with the ship's side. This had been foreseen, and blocks of soft wood (b, b, fig. 2) had been placed on the top of the cross timbers, which could be split out to bring the gunwale in contact with the ship. The cutting out of the blocks was a tedious job, and occupied considerable time, and was done by divers, one splitting out the blocks, whilst the other held a submarine lamp, and secured the chips and placed them in a bag, to prevent them from

[merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

in length, and varying from a mere crack to 2 inches in width had been discovered by the divers on the first survey, and had been covered by a mat of rope; but on examination this mat was found sagged off, and the rent was now calked with a canvas sausage, stuffed with seaweed. The bilge pumps were now set to work to take the water out of the side where this rent was, and manhole plates were put in the fore and aft webs to cut off the passage of water from this rent to the adjacent sides. Meanwhile the Andrew's pump still continued at work, but the water did not lower in the caisson. Accordingly it became necessary to make a resurvey of the ship's bottom, keeping the pumps at work to cause a current to set in at every fracture, so that it might readily be found by the divers. The first examination had been made from a platform of ladders and spars ballasted, and suspended from the ship's sides, and be neath her bottom, and moved as required, by the crew on deck. In the reexamination the shifting of the scaffold was left to the diver. A plank about 40 feet long was used for a scaffold. This plank had 2 eye bolts inserted in its under side, at a distance of 10 feet from its ends. Through these eye bolts ropes were passed, which undergirded the ship. This plank could thus be shifted laterally on the ropes at the pleasure of the diver, and fastened by small ropes to the undergirders. Commencing forward, as soon as one section of the ship's bottom had been examined, the undergirders were shifted aft half the length of the planks, and so aft till the whole bottom was thoroughly examined. This examination took from October 20 to November 3, and discovered six other fractures in addition to the forward one and that beneath the caisson. These fractures varied in length from 3 to 24 feet, and from mere cracks to a separation of about 3 inches. All these cracks were stopped temporarily before the caisson could be pumped out, by a contrivance suggested by the diver, Peter Fallon, consisting of a frame of light wood, a little larger than the hole to be stopped, and lashing to this frame like the sacking of a bed a sheet of India rubber belting; this belting was 12 inches wide, and to cover the biggest hole, it was necessary to use two strips lapped and riveted. As the rubber was placed over the fracture, the draft through the caisson when the pump was running drew the rubber close to the ship, and any joints or wrinkles in the rubber admitting water were chinked with sea weed. To secure the patches when the pumps stop ped, flock mattresses, attached to light spars, were brought up against the patches by ropes undergirding the ship. By November 3d all the cracks were temporarily stopped, and the water began to sink rapidly in the shafts. As soon as it was down 6 feet below the outside level, the pump was run only fast enough to keep the water at this level, and the divers were sent down into the caisson and wedges were taken down in a bag, and driven between

the cross beams and the ship's bottom to distribute the pressure as uniformly as possible. Some delay and trouble were caused by the want of fresh water for the boilers driving the pump, which were placed on the deck of the ship; but at 5 P. M. the caisson was sufficiently freed from water to enable Capt. Paton and one of the divers to enter at one shaft and pass through the caisson, and out at the other. Next morning the engine driving the pump broke down, repairs were made, and the engine started again; but the gale of Nov. 7th now came on; the ship dragged her anchors, and had to be put under full steam. A large rope, which had been used as a guy, either by accident or design, got foul of the pump shaft, was wound up by it, and the shaft broken and the pump so disarranged, that it had to be removed and repaired; and as it could not be replaced by the divers, some new arrangement was necessary, and that shown in fig. 3, in which the pump is secured in the bottom of an upright box bolted to the ship's side, and driven by a belt, was adopted. The construction of this box and placing it in position occupied a week. Everything was ready to start on Saturday, the 15th, but no work was done till Monday, when the pump was started. The work of wedging the cross frames, arranging the patches and chinking with sea grass wherever a leak showed itself, had to be gone over by the divers. On Tuesday the captain and the chief engineer of the ship, Mr. Rorison, went through the caisson, and a man was set to drilling the first rivet hole. The engineers of the ship were sent into the cells between the skins, where they found the water running in a stream about 3 inches deep through one of the manholes in one of the longitudinal webs between the cells. This manhole was closed by a plank with a rubber facing, and secured by a shore. The carpenters were now set at work to make a scaffold for the drillers in the caisson, and the men at work to drill the rivet holes, under the direction of the engineers of the ship, and the dimensions of the necessary plates were taken, and the iron ordered. On November 23d all the holes were drilled, and the plates were arriving; but now the Andrew's pump began to show signs of weakness, and gave out, and the caisson began to fill. The ship's pumps were set at work in the compartment of the skin over the caisson, and kept the water from rising over ten feet in the caisson. The centrifugal pump was taken out, sent to the city for repairs, and returned the same P. M.; put in place and set at work by the next A. M.; then the engineers of the ship commenced to apply the plates and the riveters set to work, the hot rivets being dropped into the caisson through tubes arranged for the purpose. To guard against another accident, another pump, a Worthington, which had been previously recommended by the engineers, but, on account of economy, not adopted, was placed in one of the stoke holes, over the fracture. Steam

being supplied to it though a rubber hose from one of the ship's boilers, it discharged its water through one of the coaling ports, and was kept at work until the last plate was applied, steam being still kept up in the boilers of the centrifugal pump so that it might be set at work in case of accident. The work of applying the plates to the ship's side went on night and day, under the direction of the engineers of the ship, Messrs. Rorison and Beckwith. The fracture varied in breadth, being in some places 4 feet wide. To cover the in⚫dented plates, and restore the form of the ship, the patch of new plates was 93 feet long by from 6 to 10 feet in breadth, inch thick, applied crosswise of the ship with lap joints. The work of applying the plates was commenced at the after end, the cross timbers were cut away to make room for the plates, and temporary shores were driven between the plates and the bottom of the caisson as the plates were put in place. Everything now went on quietly and rapidly. The job was completed, and, on inspection by a number of engineers and nautical men, was deemed very satisfactory. The accident has demonstrated in a most practical manner the value of the cellular system of construction. The outer skin was so abraded, torn, and indented that, had it been the only protection, the ship would have sunk immediately. As it was, with only the immense fracture of 86 feet in length closed, and the others only temporarily stopped, she has made her return trip successfully and safely. Similar plans have been previously adopted for the repair of ships' bottoms, but the magnitude of the caisson-104 feet long by 15 wide-is unprecedented, and complicated the work. The hose packing, which conduced, perhaps, more than anything else to the success of the undertaking, is, it is believed, a novelty, and was devised by the Messrs. Renwick, who projected the plans for the repair of the ship, and directed the whole work.

GREECE, a limited monarchy in the S. E. of Europe, having an area of 18,244 square miles, and a population of 1,067,216 inhabitants, or, adding the Ionian Islands, which the British Government have given the opportunity to unite with the Greek kingdom, 19,250 square miles, and 1,313,699 inhabitants. Greece is now under a provisional government, of which Demetri Bulgaris is president, with two vice-presidents and a council of seven.

During the past year Greece has undergone a revolution, which has resulted in the overthrow and banishment of the late King Otho I. A brief explanation of the causes which led to this revolution may properly preface an account of it. Greece, which since the 15th century had been under Turkish domination, worn out with the constantly increasing oppression of the Ottoman power, revolted in 1821, and a war of seven years, marked by terrible atrocities on the part of the Turks, followed. In October, 1827, the Greeks, aided by a combin

ed English, French, and Russian fleet, gained the battle of Navarino, which broke the Turkish power, and led to the acknowledgment of their independence, under the protection of the three powers who had contributed to their liberation. At first the government was nominally a republic, and Count Capodistrias, a Greek statesman, long in the service of Russia, was president; but the three protecting powers decided that they must have a monarchical gov ernment, and on the assassination of Count Capodistrias in October, 1831, these powers, after some deliberation, selected, as their king, Otho, second son of the king of Bavaria, born in 1815. He arrived at Namplia in 1833, and at first assumed the government under a regency of three, selected by his father, all Bavarians, and two of them utterly ignorant of the country, and even of its language. In 1836 the king married Amelia, daughter of the grand duke of Oldenburg, and took the management of affairs himself, or rather committed them to the queen, as the abler member of the royal firm. Otho was not by nature cruel or tyrannical, but he was weak, indolent, and selfish, and wedded wholly to Bavarian ideas. Ha queen was far more capable, but imperions, selfish, and bent upon the gratification of her own will, and scrupled at no tyranny which should extract from the Greeks the money necessary to carry out her plans, while she was unwilling to do anything to promote the interests of the people. The result has been that oppression followed oppression till all metre for enterprise or improvement was lost, and the country sunk into a state of apathy, from which it was only roused by occasional spasmedie efforts to throw off the hated Bavarian yeke The municipal governments of the villages, a relic of ancient Greece, which had been preserved through three and a half centuries of Turkish domination, were discontinued; the monasteries were abolished, but their lards and funds, instead of being applied to the par poses of education, were taken as the property of the crown, which further became the pre prietor of about two thirds of the cultivated and four fifths of the uncultivated lands of the kingdom. On these lands the tenants were required to pay 15 per cent. of the gross prod uct of the land in kind, as rent for its usura and in addition a land tax of from 3 to 10 p cent. also in kind; and these taxes and rents were exacted in the most aggravating and wasteful manner. The whole taxes and rents were farmed, and the cultivator could neither reap nor thresh his crop without the pers sion of the farmer, who often withheld the per mission, till the crop was nearly worthless, in o der to extract more from the hapless cultivator, The crop when gathered must be transparteď from five to twelve miles over the most al orinable roads, to be threshed, that there might be no withholding of the farmer's portion, ind when brought to the threshing floor, it was often many weeks before permission to thresh

it was accorded, and during this time the cultivator must remain by to watch it. On an average three months were lost to each cultivator in this way, and all inducement to increase the quantity of the crops was taken away. Except in the immediate vicinity of Athens there were neither roads nor bridges, although the country is preeminently one of swift flowing streams, high hills, and deep ravines. There were not 120 miles of tolerable roads, and but half a dozen bridges in the kingdom. Manufactures were discouraged by heavy imposts, till there remained only some gold and silver embroidery work at Athens, some iron ware at Tripolitza, a little silk gauze at Calamata and Mistra, and some woollen fabrics on a very limited scale manufactured at Lebadoea. While five or six short and inexpensive railroads, connecting important points, would have soon quadrupled the production of Greece, the Government not only would not interest itself in their construction, but opposed and forbade any application of private capital for the purpose. Centralization was the policy of the court. Athens, as the royal residence, must be aggrandized, but all the rest of Greece might go to waste.

At the close of her struggle for independence Greece had a constitution of a somewhat liberal character, but this the regency and the king himself, when he came into power, utterly ignored, and the despotism of the Government grew more intolerable with each year, till in 1843 the people rose in revolution, with the rallying cry of Zhтw To Zuvrayua ("Long Live the Constitution"). Gen. Kalergy was in command, and the army on which the king relied to defend him from the people, fraternized with them. After attempting in vain to escape the alternative presented him of resigning, or dismissing his Bavarians, appointing a new ministry, calling a national assembly, and accepting a constitution drawn up by them, he finally acceded to the latter, signed the ordinances presented to him, and when the national assembly had drawn up a constitution, he accepted it. The constitution thus prepared was defective in many particulars, but Otho and his queen did not observe its provisions, and hence any good there was in it failed to enure to the benefit of the people. The two chambers, instead of being elected by fair popular vote, were packed with adherents to the crown; the ballot was tampered with, and if by any accident a Greek patriot was elected, spurious ballots sufficient to defeat his election were substituted for the true ones. The ministry were notoriously takers of bribes, falsifiers of ballots, and tools of the despotism, and were openly accused of every species of baseness.

For ten years the people endured these increasing evils, which were aggravated by the growing rapacity of the queen. The revenues had been increasing; but this fact was carefully concealed from the people, and the payment of 900,000 drachmas annually, guaranteed

by the constitution toward the liquidation of the debt of $12,000,000, contracted by Greece at her independence, with the endorsement of the three powers, was withheld by the king, and used for the purposes of the court, as a considerable portion of the principal of the loan had been. In 1854 another revolution became imminent, and was only avoided by the adroitness of the Government (an adroitness never manifested on any other occasion), in bringing forward the project of a Byzantine empire. The questions which led to the Crimean war were in agitation, and the queen and ministers prompted the people to side with Russia, and to make the effort to alienate from Turkey the provinces of Epirus and Thessaly, and the Grecian islands, to form a new Greek domain. Infatuated with this idea, Otho for once became popular, and his already despotic powers were enlarged, while the wealthier Greeks subscribed large sums of money, which were greedily absorbed by the court to promote so desirable an end. In less than a year they woke from their dream to find they had been duped. The allied powers threatened them, and occupied their capital with an armed force; Turkey was exasperated, and their money had been spent on its own projects by the Government which had become more absolute than before. The people became satisfied that their Bavarian rulers cared nothing for them, but only for their money, and that there could be no improvement or progress till they were rid of them; but who could be substituted for them, was the question, and a very difficult one it was to solve.

In 1856 the three protecting powers appointed a commission to investigate the administrative and financial state of Greece. This commission, consisting of an English, French, and Russian member, spent more than two years in their inquiries, and published their report in 1860. According to this report the interest of the debt already referred to had not been paid since 1843, and amounted in 1859 to $11,228,476, and at the present time would amount to about $16,400,000. There was besides this a home debt of about $12,500,000. The Government, the commission reported, had used without accounting for them the communal funds, had encroached systematically upon the public domain, had published no account of the finances, and though the revenues had increased, had carefully concealed that fact from the people, whom they had constantly plundered.

This report did not lessen the utter distrust and contempt of their king and queen which was possessing the minds of the Greeks; and it required but a slight incident to develop it in another revolution. On the 28th of May a conspiracy, supposed to be of great extent, was discovered in Athens, but it turned out to be a false alarm, and the king and queen soon subsided into their old condition of apathy. Otho went in the summer as usual to the German spa, and left the queen as regent. On the 15th of September, at 9 o'clock in the evening, as

« PreviousContinue »