Boiler trivia: It wasn't because of a tied-down safety valve, but the worst
loss of life to a U.S. maritime disaster was the boiler explosion on the
Sultana in 1865. The Sultana, a govt. contract, ex-luxury steamer carried a
vast overload of US prisoners of war, recently freed from Southern prisons.
There wasn't a lot of news coverage of it at the time, certainly no headline
coverage, because it happened the same day Lincoln was assasinated.
Reportedly the boiler blew at the site of a welded patch only a few days
old. The Sultana's boilers may have been over-pressured to accommodate the
overload of human cargo. There's a good chance the safetys may have been
maladjusted.

Bob Swinney
wrote in message
ups.com...
You'll find all sorts of references to tying down safety valves in the
old literature on river boats. That was also the pressure gauge,
pre-Bourdon tube. The Smithsonian used to have some of the old stuff
on display, the valve was usually a plunger and lever with an
adjustable weight on the outboard end. The example I saw was pretty
corroded, I imagine, though, that there were markings on the weight
beam for boiler pressure. Life could get pretty exciting for the
boiler room crew if the plunger stuck.

No boiler level water-glass gauges, either, just try-cocks.

Stan