Page:Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages.pdf/89



John Farey, Esq. 10 August, 1831. in my opinion, the probability of a coach being overturned by the horses is far greater than that of a boiler bursting, and when either accident does occur, the probable extent of mischief from an overturn in which all the passengers must participate, is much greater than could be expected from the bursting of a boiler, which must always be kept at a considerable distance from the passengers on account of the heat.

Supposing either Mr. Hancock's or Mr. Gurney's boiler were to burst; in the one case the boiler being in a separate Carriage, and in the other, the boiler being at a considerable distance behind the passengers, what danger do you think could arise to the passengers from the bursting of the boiler?—There is very little difference between the two cases; the separate Carriage obviates any apprehension that passengers could entertain from the danger of explosion, and will therefore be preferred by most passengers, but for myself I do not rate that risk so high as to be induced to encounter the complexity of the two Carriages, and to forego some of that new security which steain power offers by its controllability in descending hills and turning corners, compared with horses; and in which circumstance, as I have before stated, I think the plan of one Carriage is much to be preferred, and probably the other objections of heat and noise and dust may be overcome by some new means, which have not yet been shown ; in Mr. Hancock's Carriage the boiler is quite behind, and away from the passengers, so that they are out of danger, if there is any, and are not materially annoyed by heat or smoke and dust, except at times when the wind brings it forwards, and that rarely happens when the Coach is moving.

Is not the danger attendant on the bursting the boiler greatly diminished by the subdivision of its internal capacity into tubes or small and flattened chambers?—Unquestionably, until the danger of explosion has become exceedingly small; but the great difficulty of boilers for Steam Coaches is, that the liability to burn through the plates has been increased