. The Locomotive . TFORD, CONK, AUGUST, 1880. No. 8. The Destruction of the Steamer Seawanhaka. On June 28, 1880, the passenger steamer Seawanhaka, plying between New York andGlen Cove, on Long Island Sound, on her afternoon trip from New York, when in thevicinity of Hell Gate, a dull noise, described as that of a muffled explosion, was heard,accompanied by a slight jar, and flames were observed toburst out amidships, beyond the possibility of control. Thepassengers, of whom there were a large number, becamepanic stricken, the Captain determined to beach the boat atwhat he thought the nearest
. The Locomotive . TFORD, CONK, AUGUST, 1880. No. 8. The Destruction of the Steamer Seawanhaka. On June 28, 1880, the passenger steamer Seawanhaka, plying between New York andGlen Cove, on Long Island Sound, on her afternoon trip from New York, when in thevicinity of Hell Gate, a dull noise, described as that of a muffled explosion, was heard,accompanied by a slight jar, and flames were observed toburst out amidships, beyond the possibility of control. Thepassengers, of whom there were a large number, becamepanic stricken, the Captain determined to beach the boat atwhat he thought the nearest available place upon the sunkenmeadow at Randalls Island, the fire, meantime, raged withsuch violence that in less than thirty minutes from its dis-covery the boat was burned to the waters edge; 35 liveswere lost, and many badly burned and injured. The newspapers, as is usual in such cases, for severaldays after the occurrence devoted considerable of their spaceto the discussion of the cause of so great a calamity,. Fig. 1.—Longitudinal section through the shell of the Seawanhakas boiler, showing the smoke (gas)thoroughfares in elevation, and a section through the starboard furnace. C—The initial rupture in the bottom cf the lower tube in the second vertical row, through which the waterescaped. A—Rupture in the right-hand ten-inch flue, probably secondary, through which water also escaped into thesmoke (gas) thorou«hlares. NN—The low places where the water lodged; the arrows representing the free steam which separated fromthe water as soon as it reached the chamber, NN. W—The ash-pan bedded in fire-brick and cement. P—Probable location of the wood-work that first took fire. which was generally attributed to the explosion of carbonic oxide gas, generated in thefurnaces, the result of imperfect combustion, the engineer made his report without add-ing any facts that would assist in the solution of the question, but seeming to confirmthe popular belief. There were many
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