Title: From Wood To Fuel Oil 1

RivermenandRiverboats > Wood To Fuel Oil > Wood To Fuel Oil

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Fiddlinsue

Rank：none Score：220 Posts：220 From：USA Register：11/11/2008 8:17 AM

Date Posted：01/23/2009 2:23 AMCopy HTML "FROM PINE LOGS TO FUEL OIL" The improvement in all phases of river steamboating is no-where so clearly marked as in the change of fuel.  From the days of the famous old "Robert E. Lee" to the new all-steel floating palace, "S. S. President", engine fuel has changed from wood to coal, and from coal to clean, smokeless fuel oil. Among the many improvements and conveniences for the pleasure of guests aboard the "President", perhaps the most appreciated is the fact that this-river liner burns fuel oil. Fastidious passengers in summer clothes reclining on the top deck need have no fear of soot and smoke, and no heat from the funnels causes them inconvenience or discomfort.  A battery of oil-heated boilers makes steam to operate engines so smoothly that dancers are not even conscious of any vibration.  These boilers also operate the turbo-generators which supply the electricity for lighting and cooking aboard the boat. No noise from the engine rooms disturbs the guests, and these rooms are cool by comparison with those of the old boats.  There is no dirty "stoke-hold"; only a wisp of steam is exhausted from the funnels instead of the smoke which pours from the funnels of so many boats. "The President" carries enough fuel  to travel the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, and continue on to Mobile, Alabama, without a stop. What a change fuel oil has brought about!  In the old days, when wood was the fuel used in the steamboats, the wharves at every river town were loaded with cordwood, and about a third of the space on the lower deck of the boat was used for fuel storage.  A full load of fuel and a full cargo of cotton bales left little space for anything  else.  Wood was plentiful, and used extravagantly.  At each stop a supply was taken aboard.  Often, however, when a rival boat was pressing the captain to a race for the business at the next big town, no stops were made.  Coal oil or sperm oil was poured on what wood remained to heat the boilers white hot. Everything from the engineer's tools to the passengers "sad irons" were used to weigh down the safety valve, thus utilizing every bit of steam to turn the paddles.The excitement among the crews and passengers of both boats rose with the temperature in the boilers.  Bets were shouted back and forth--the words were often lost in the clangor and confusion, but "money talked" and passengers, many of them waving currency, lined the upper decks. This set is not linkware. It is not to leave this site in whole or in part. The backgrounds and images were created by me (Fiddlinsue). Images are from my own personal collection.