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t , Luvu P 2S* 2S F MARINE SUPERSTITIONS. Indeed marine superstitious should not. bo hard to kill, for they lire not veiy numerous. A large unrqber hnve been fathered on sail ors by land writers, but they wunf the truo ring; tho suit llavor Is lacking, and It is easy to see that their narrators nevor were afloat. The really nautical superstition Is uninls- tnknblo. It Is born of the sen InrlnjjJIfo, and the spirit of It sneaks as surely of buT? wn- rer and the association together for months at a time of briny minds In dim and resonant interiors as tho liu piling, rolling gait, the toughened hands, swinging nthwiirtshlps, tell of tile ncmiii Bailor, the sea-Jockey used to such hurdle races ns the Pacific In storm otters, or to biic'i mad galloping ns tin; roiu There is the old supeislition about Finns, lor In9tiince. The FInlander makes n very good, quiet, respectable sailor, but both Eng¬ lish and American seamen agioed, for some lesson iindctoinilnnblc, to look upon him as a sort of magician, and to fear him and treat him respectfully for that leason. Jinny fell upon his face ho would go holow with tho conviction that something evil was sure to happen to him. As to the Flying Dutch¬ man, it Is ilolibtfttl whether Jack evor sin¬ cerely In his hcnii'. believed In that appari¬ tion; but tff Friday tho marine dread was habltttnl; dend bodies and parsons wete looked upon as fateful, and to drown a cat wnsacettaln way of provoking dlsnstor. Davy Jones belonged to Jack's theolog). What appearance tie assigned to tills spirit, whether he had horns and a tall, or whether he more lesomblcd Neptune as person I lied In tho olden times by men-nf-wnis-men who crawled over tho bows with crown and tri¬ dent when the equntor Irove in sight, Is a point that loniiiliis to be settled, hut there ing and revolving storm forces upon him. J <-'0"1(l uo no ■<l0lll>t tll!'t Davy Jones was ir dungeious monster, who lived nt the bottom ■from intornal hent, and the shock mid jar Incident U> this class ot slenmboats, which have none of the advantages ot making landings at or alongside of n dock, as is customary on tho tidal rivers of tho Eastei u States. The steamboats of tlie Western rivers have to'come to their lnndlfig by being foiced up alongside of tho river bank in the most primitive way, to say nothing of tho severe' usage they rccolve by being worked ovei bars and snags and 6imllnr obstructions. Tho brick work around the boilers is the lust thing to glvo out, except at the bridge wall, wheie It Is too frequently melted down by tho Intense heat from the heavy firing; for in most of these steamers they burn as high us 00 pounds of bituminous coal per.houi on a square foot of grate surface. If this could be done on any of our river or seagoing of the sen, ami whdse days and nights were steamers their crown and tubeshcets would dovoted to the pleasing labor of stowing away In his immense locker the bodies of seamen Who came floating down ti) his do,- mlnlons. Another nautical superstition might perhaps be found in the snllor's tin stoilcs used to be related of him. He Is willingness to kill 01 culture a Mothei Ca- usual'y depictured as n yellow haired main ray's chicken. Cnleililge's *■ Ancient Marl- lia sealskin cap, full of pledlctlons and »or 8" albatross Is a land.gulng fancy, no always right In Ills prophesying. In some ships, when thete was, a Finn aboard, It was customary to nail a horse-shoo to the foremast to neutralize any prediction lie might utter that was likely to bo Injurious to the ship or uiew. He was occasionally medited with mariner, howuvei tinclcnt, would nntlUpate evil In killing an albatross either with a hook or cross-bow. To slny one of those little chickens, howevoi, which follow in the wake of ships, rising and falling nmid the stitpen- _______.........______ ____ dous surges like divine Intimations thrft even tnejiowfr of gettfng diuiik as often as he ' "■ tho lives of those spaiiows of the deep are | ers ot the West; but properly lilied throughout tho longest-Voyage on a **rei f«i so Is the; poor sailor hlmsBll "'.....~ -™~ —"--------'.........." single quart of rum, the contents ol tho bot- wiltohfd over, would, 1n Jack's mind, bo tie never diminishing, no mutter how often reokoned as wicked as robbing a church, ho put It to Ins lips, and ho has been known B,,t "" 8«oh fancies and superstitions uro to stand the bottle on a table before him and | fast drifting nway, It, to use n murine cx- tnlk"to It. Finland ships, too, were uhutjs ' presslon, theynro not already out of sight - thought ablo to obtain a fair wind wiicnevei nstein. Draughts Horn tho scuttlebutt, they chose, nntl, with studding sails aloft In Hen of the Old "lots of grog," may have and alow, ovoi haul and pass vessels beating 30im tiling to do with the change, but the In the same direction against n gale. Dana , »clWe "Kullt of "l0 tianslorniatlon Is 'tits- tells a story of a captain who threatened to I questionably steam, and ItB obnoxlousness conflnoa Finn In the foropcak If he did not,tu tl10 ancient rude poetry and imaginations Salr wind for tho ship. mnki mnlnJITg dead ahead convinced cveiybody tlraTthe Finn refused to glvo In, « hereupon ho was bundled Into the foicpcak and left there without food. The Finn held out fot awhile, but unable to slai d the Imprison¬ ment any longer, ordered the wind to shllt, w hlch It did, and the yellow Imlred magic¬ ian was II bi nt(ed, JIow such asupeistltlou The wind re- n' the deep may be witnessed In the advci tlsetnents which dally announie the sailing ot whole fleets or steameit uu Fridays.— Ijmdtm Ithijiuph not stand an oidlnary wnfcli of four hours Theicfore, "M J. M," will not rcqulie further aigumont to prove to him thutbiick woik on Western river steamers receive the roughest kind of usage—first, In shocks and juie, null second, from Intensity of hent, [he 1 ke of which Is not equalled hi the woild for severity* "M. .1. M " evidently fears tho "pitching and tossing" and Its effects at sea. op boileis set in bilck work, which I take to mcnir' brick uoik as commonly constructed for land hollers. This, I confess, would nof stand at sea or even on tho boats of the riv- spenking, W astern river boilers arti vlituallyscctlpniil boilers, for thoy consist of a series of small shells, and that Is all any sectional - boiler consists of, and Jet in iron work, with bilck ^erra cotta work to protect It from the Ing effect ot tho furnace beat, which call fot their boilers to be sot in Iron frame¬ work, protected by bilck. Thus, Mr. Edi¬ tor, my reply to your .correspondent has assumed a length beyontl what I Intended, but should he require further Information, on the subject your humble servant will gladly respond. Yours vory truly, OnsERvrn. URICIv lURMACfch ON. ilKAMERS Xk« Yohk. Aug II Ethtu} Hit Xtuiiitttl GiizfitC Dear air Yoni coriesponilent, "JI. its this urose It Is Impossible to say, but it Is I M /' asked the uiltui 10 state how he easy to see that It belonged to the ocean and must have had its origin in the foiecastlc. It is ns suit In its way as the notion ot Sun¬ day entertained by a snip's taipontor, who considered that he lulllllcd all the Sabbath obligations laid upon him by lomblngtlils hair and mounting a pair of green spec taclcs, and declining that ho would not give a chew of tobacco for the chitnccs ol a man { who consldcied that tbu main topsail ftiokcd white on thatd ly Of all the supeislltloiis of the sea the most Intelligible aie those which gulhcr about I hi. wierdelecli Ic exhalations uilli'd compnsants A green, liilnr, am! sepulchral light, shining j nt a yaid arm 01 boom mil on u plii.liblaik night and amidst a gale ot n lull, might well pu/ilo and agitato the simple heart of a sea¬ man stai lug aloft at it. Shnkcpoaro embodies posed to use sectional boilers on My article to which lie alliif.s relet ml inoie piirticnlaily to the advantage accruing from tho use of high steam than it did to nnj thing else, but In order to cairy veij high steam successfully sectional or untei mho boilers Can only be used, If a pioper fin tor of safety Is to be innliiliilncil, toi witli high steam uo must have just as sale n boiler or g.enciaior as one can3 Ing onlj thirty pounds pressnti, for thlity pounds of steam makes |ust as (leaillj 1111 explosion as one ol 200 pounds, only tho elicit ot the Inttei may he felt a little turther oil One of the (list requirements ol a sale steam gmeritor Is that all purls of it should be accessible to the hand ot the eyj), lu ol¬ der that'll thoiougli know ledge ol its condi¬ tion may be possessed by the person In 'tlie shilling appeal nine hi the person bf I cliuige. ' Ariel,and spliltiinll/cs it by his own con- '1 Ills, howcu'i, Is not the case ulih shell coptlon "Now on the beak, now In the boilers, wlieie the lower half of thecWIndti 1 waist, tho deck, in every Cabin, I llnm'd amazemoirt, sometimes I'd divide, and burn in many places, on the topmast, the yards and Irowsprlt, would I llamedistinctly, then ' ally and rimoved, for a thorough meet and join." It Is quite possible that one tlon, if it Is desiied, tlnds heie (lie grotmdwoik of the bullof for¬ merly cntei tallied that "at. Klino's flies," or composantsiis they ore usually called, were women who took this form to bowllder sea- men. 'I'lieic aia stories of sallois giving chase to it coroposant, following It from a Is w\l and tlioroughlv accomplished on the stcanieis of the Western livers. Years of practice have thoroughly demonstrated that boilers set In this way will lust longer and do far bettor service both In generating steam mid In economy ot I'm I than It Is pos¬ sible to accomplish in shell, water leg, 01 flro bet boilers. , A case that will dcmon&trqjo to "M J. M." (whom I infer to bo a student of en¬ gineering 01 an actual follower of the pro¬ fession) or to the most Incredulous, how much It Impossible to accomplish by using bilck fuinaces.01 11 similar refractoiy mate¬ rial In irluce ol the culinary watoi leg or wall In common 01 general use In uiiiilne boilers, Is that of tliositumshtp New Orleans, running between this city and New Oilcans, I,n , which was originally bHilt I with si© tollers I) feet diameter, with one fuiuace i|iitlci each shell, which ueie hr- closcd by 9 inch water legs extending up to 1 the u\|s ot the 1 j hudilcnl sin lis, thus vrrtu- 11II} suriniindlng the tin mice and boiler whliaOliich walei leg Altel 1 mining llie ship tin about two yeuis these wntei legs lequlnd 11 general lepaliing to mnki tbiiu tight, but tho engineer In 1 lilef of ilic 10111- I panj ilceined It biRfto stop oil nil comic 1 tlon heincen tile shell portion ot tin so boil ers and llie wntei legs which suiiounilid the mtlic tiirniiecs, anil then lined [he lur- naicB loinpleic witli lire bilck, which was I vlltuidh suriouiiillifg the 0 loot shell liollci \illh a llie In Ick luriiaco, depending upon llie old sheets only to hold llie 11 loot brick wall In place. These brick furnaces have now been In now Is tilled with Hues or tubes, which makes I constant use at sen ioi nuiiily two jeair., this portion ot It entliely inaccessible, 1111- ' giving cntlic satlsliietlon, ineieaslng the c 111 less the tubes 01 Hues ale cutout occasion- 1 Ic ncj of the steaming pioperties ol llui cxamlna- iise seotloiial boileis say All hollers in As to how I would on ulilpbunrd, 1 will use on Western liver bonis aro of small ulanv oter, not generfi>ly oxcoedlng IJ Inches. These nro sot shle'uy side, with foue, live or six in it battery; the furnace being con lower yaid arm to the truck, and then being I stiueted ol fire bilck, the flumes "of the spirited oil by the tlgtiieof a female tluit 1 lurujicn pusses 11111I11 llie shell and icturns suddenly gleamed out. In the darkness Willi tbiough Hues 01 lubes to the slacks, I he l ho cniiipomiut shining oil llel hull like a duck being protected by hi Ink work ami star. Another Bupiistitlon was that lompo- I c utile battel) ot boileis siuioiiuded Willi mints wcie ihe souls of seamen who had died I llie aid of a veiy light bulking of sheet lion, ibouiil the ship, and who, lu limning lorm, | suppoited with light angle lion as 11 flame, haunted those j 111 <U mid spar* upon which lurilshcs 11 labile of lion, pioteeted bj re- tiiey had often, when In lite, bung on by liiiitcny mate il il, lor tbeilliect lontlneincut Hieli "eyc-llilb."-No sailoi llki done ol tliose ol the llaine 01 luiinin; flics 'llils 1 lass ol lights to shine upon hlin. II the icllccllon ' fuinuce wlllistuiids thesc\eicstkind ol usage boileis, at the sumo time showing 11 vcrj lingo saving In fuel oyer the fur nine and hollers as 01 Iglnally constructed, lietore the hi Ick was put in, which is accounted toi lu this way: The wator legs, as previously used, exerted a cooling or condensing Influ¬ ence 011 the producj:a of combustion in their passage out of the furnace, thus allowing 11 huge precmtiige ot theni to 1 snipe 'llii lu ick tut mice, when puce heated, fucllitiilis (he combustion 01 the gu»es as iliej rise lioin llie lucl, lit nee the) do not escape tioni tin loiinectlons and tubes, but iiiutrttiute lull amount of beat due to theli lOiiibustion 'IlJiu United slates Nn\ul Advlwii\ llouiiV have made investigation into this siihjutol bilck tin uiiecs, aiicl tliclreionoiin unapplied to steiiuiship hollers, unci hii\e maile llii hpecillcalion Ioi the new steel ciuUcro which THRUl GH IHE RAPIDS. Tlio Herald's Buftnlo Correspondent snys The imitation of the old steamer Maid of [he Mist was sent thiough the whirlpool rapids below Niagara Falls In tho presence of 10,000 spectators. Excursions were run op all luilroadscentcrlngnt the falls, both from the'States and Canada. There was much ciltlcismon account of the whole itflnlr be¬ ing turned Into an adveitlslug medium. Jt was said that the scheme was gotten up for the benefft of tho hackmen and hotel keep¬ ers, but theadvcrtlslng pi Lvilege of the boat was bought by a patent medicine denier of Lockport. Tho little crafuwuf rigged up to represent the original Maid ot the "Mist, which was piloted safely through the rapids in 18(>1. At 3 20 p. in., Buflalo llinoj the boat wiib toned out into the stream and cut Joobo at about the point wheie Captain Webb 'started on bis fatal swim. She wont swiftly down the stream ami when reaching the inpiils was dashed about like a small boat In n tough sea, but kept her course safely through. caieetifitK and turning around sev^. etal t^nes. She reached the Whirlpool in ' about three mlmitos-from the time sho struck— tho rough water. Then sho floated mound' and gradually worked to the Canadian shore, remaining In the whirlpool about twenty minutes. After reaching (ho shore she was socured and Her flags rakeu oft, after which she was pushed out. Into the stream ami floated down the rivei some distance when she was taken In tow by some boys anil tied up to the Lewiston dock. A PORl'AIiLE BREAKWATER. A most Ingenious Invention called tho Greeiiway Bteakwater has come before our notice, nnd Is one which, If wo can judge from the the successful experiment made, will in 11 very short time bo brought piomi- nently befoio the public. 'Ihe object of this brciikwatei, which Is simply a line of buoys, Is not to resist the force oLthe waves, but to turn them against one another The buois are mooied in a straight liueTuTdopeiuleiu ol one unolhei, and aie of 11 lilaiigular shape, witli a sharp point, which Is diluted toward tlie sea when the buoy is lu position. 'Jhev nie held by two anchors to cm li buo), foro and alt, sous to keep ilieni lu position with the space of a been between each. Ihe dinft ol each lino) Is 10 leet When a wave stiikes the shfjrrnpjjm ol a buoi it Is divided Into twoiMrlfs, thrdrurlcd wave then 1 tithes towiudsyilie buojs on\ etliii side, and In the Krmeci between il ihccts that poitiou ot unotlici wine which has had similiii Uc^enicnt tiom the 111 ighbouripg buo\, Willi the lesiilt Ihut tin ellurslon iinl collision icdiice or entlrih break the louu of llie wuvi, unci the water Is 1 an led hailil- lessl) Inside ol the bleukuater. Such 11 bicakwutci could be consliueted Inavciy short spun ol time, while thceost,comp iretl with that ol 11 (Oneiric Or stonu breakwater, would be trilling.—Limiimul loumulai Com- W 11 I'm man, ol Waldiou, \ik , In the patentee of an Improved valve gear foi steam engines consniiitcd to allow loiivcnlcnt re- \ersal 01 the engine, and tor icgulutlng the amount of steam udmlttid to the steam chamber. Mr. Isaac/umbcrbatch, of Newark, N. J., 1b tho patentee of an Ingenious device/or ri'gulaiing the draught Inn steam boiloi. At tlie top of the boiler Is located a hollow eyl- IikU 1 w hlcliipuiiects witli tlie hoilei and lias a nun able iod passing through Itsimitr, which is connected with th«j top of umrlis of disks in sue li n Way that us the sjc uu Is admlttid the rod will be uiised pro|uuiiun- utelv to the steam presumes, and tlie diitn- pu In the flue of the built 1 which is c011- ncitid with this ind b\ 1 sc ilesi.il levels will he loMispnndliigh linked and UicWIi lught tllyuul-lied. 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