What was the cause of most early steamboat boiler explosions?
The loss of the "Lucy Walker" in 1844 was one of a large number of deadly steamboat boiler explosions which forced eventual Federal legislation and regulation and establishment of the Steamboat Inspection Service. What turned out to be the the main cause or causes of these disasters? Was it high pressure boilers, too low water levels, poor construction of boilers, or what? During the 1830's the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia did some of the first Federally-financed scientific experiments in boiler technology and chemistry.
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