§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEpresented a Petition from Mr. W. J. Curtis, praying for a favourable consideration of his invention for propelling and steering steam ships. The noble Earl said, the inventor felt himself aggrieved by the policy and conduct of the Admiralty. This was a time of great change in the construction of ships, and among other matters of difficulty which had arisen was the difficulty of steering, and many attempts had been made to enable them to steer long ships in an easier way than the present mode. It was quite right that all inventions should be subjected to a thorough test before they were submitted to the Admiralty; but this was a peculiar case, as the rapid steering of the ships of the navy was more important to them than it was to merchant ships, which, when once out of port, went straight away on their voyage, whereas the power of a ship's armament depended very materially on the power of manœuvring her rapidly. Mr. Curtis suggested to the Admiralty that he 1623 should be allowed to make use of a gunboat, and he obtained one 160 feet long, and applied it to his steering apparatus, and a series of experiments was made, and he was to supply all the means of making these experiments at his own expense. The experiment appeared to be one of sufficient importance to induce the public journals to send their reporters to be present, with a view of giving an account—as they generally did with so much intelligence—of what was going on, and the statement made by the reporter of The Times with respect to the particular experiment of Mr. Curtis which had been tried on board the Charger gunboat, was of a most flattering character. There was, besides, a certificate, making satisfactory mention of it, from two marine surveyors, as well as a statement made by Sir Edmund Belcher, and another emanating from a Russian Rear Admiral, expressing their approval of the invention, the opinion of the latter being that by its means the vessel was enabled to manœuvre with a rapidity which would be impossible in the case of an ordinary screw. The pilot who went in the gunboat from the Thames to Portsmouth reported that the screw and steering apparatus acted admirably in a gale of wind, and allowed the vessel to turn round quicker than any other screw which he had seen. The assistant pilot confirmed that statement, and added that the vessel was easily brought head to wind and tacked in a manner to excite the admiration of all on board. Throughout the whole of a trying passage the screw, he said, worked satisfactorily without damage to the vessel or machinery. The petitioner had set out these statements in his petition to show their Lordships that the experiments had succeeded, and in carrying out these experiments he had incurred an expense of £2,000, and after that he was dropped by the Admiralty, and heard no more on the subject, nor could he learn in what he had failed, and therefore he came to their Lordships. He (the Earl of Hardwicke) thought this a case for investigation, as if the Admiralty availed themselves of the labour and of the minds of these gentlemen who made inventions, and then rejected them without giving any reason, it must have a discouraging effect on that very useful body of men.
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, he was glad the noble Earl had brought the subject forward, because it afforded a good illustration of there being two sides to a question. Their Lordships had heard the 1624 opinion of the inventor as to the value of his invention. He would state shortly the reports which he had received of the same invention. In November, 1862, Mr. Curtis proposed his invention to the Admiralty. It was sent to him (the Duke of Somerset), and, as he did not pretend to be a judge of a question which really involved a great deal of engineering skill, he sent it to the Controller's Department. The Engineer-in-Chief in London, who was a gentleman of great experience, after looking at it, said he had no confidence in it, and pointed out that whereas the chief difficulty as to steerage in all vessels was in the after part not being sufficiently strong, this plan tended to weaken the after part of the vessel, instead of strengthening it. He was anxious to get another opinion, and he sent the model down to the Engineer at Portsmouth, and, without telling him that he had received any report, asked for his candid opinion upon it. That opinion was against the invention as being of no practical value, and that it was not desirable that the Government should incur any expense in trying it. He then told Mr. Curtis that, in the face of those opinions, he did not feel authorized in putting the public to any expense in experiments. Mr. Curtis proposed to fit up a gunboat at his own expense if the Admiralty would lend him one; and, as he thought there was nothing like trying a thing practically, he assented. Accordingly, a gunboat was placed at the disposition of Mr. Curtis, who went to Portsmouth and had it fitted up under his superintendence and to his perfect satisfaction. Mr. Curtis then begged leave to be allowed to bring the gunboat round to the river Thames; and as it was said the invention added to the speed of the vessel, and therefore was of equal value in merchant ships as in Her Majesty's ships of war, he thought those connected with the private trade would, at all events, have an opportunity of seeing the experiment in the river. The vessel was not finished until August, 1863. The moment it was ready for trial he sent directions to an officer of the steam reserve at Sheerness to make the trial, in order to see how the steering apparatus answered in comparison with the ordinary mode of steering, and whether it affected injuriously the machinery of the vessel. Another gunboat of about the same size was taken out, and the report was that in turning she did it in ten seconds less time than the gunboat with the improved rud- 1625 der. The officers who made the trial also reported that when the engines stopped, from the peculiar mode in which the rudder and screw were connected, the vessel was totally unmanageable, and that there was a very objectionable rattling of the screw, which would certainly increase with the working of the vessel. Another trial was made, and afterwards a letter was sent to Mr. Curtis, telling him that it was of no use trying it any further, and that the vessel might go back to Portsmouth. He might also mention that when in the river, in the course of one manœuvre, the gunboat ran over an oyster vessel. When she got back to Portsmouth, with the consent of Mr. Curtis, Captain Cochrane, of the Warrior, tried her, but it did not lead to any more favourable report. He then received from Mr. Curtis a letter attacking all the persons who had been concerned, saying that every one had been most dishonest, and had conspired and leagued together against him. The newspaper at Portsmouth did not think the trial successful, and immediately Mr. Curtis wrote to Captain Cochrane accusing him of having written the article. Captain Cochrane, however, replied that he had neither written the article nor given any suggestions for it. Mr. Curtis further attributed all that had happened to the fault of the Admiralty, notwithstanding that they had incurred some expense in trying the invention. The Admiralty had, from the first, been informed by all practical men, that the invention would not succeed, and the trial by officers who had not been previously consulted confirmed their opinion. This showed the state of mind at which the inventor arrived—declaring that he had been ill-treated from beginning to end, and laying all the blame of his failure at the door of the Admiralty. The last letter which he had received from Mr. Curtis was to the effect that he should petition Her Majesty, and should lay the whole case before both Houses of Parliament. The noble Earl was the first person who had brought it before Parliament, and he hoped he had given him a satisfactory answer. At the trial there certainly was an advantage on the side of Mr. Curtis's invention in the matter of speed; but the trial was not for speed. The gunboat which was taken out to try against her had her boilers leaky and her bottom foul, and there was very little difficulty in beating her. The trial had been very fairly conducted, and he could only point out to the inventor that if his invention were as valu- 1626 able as he maintained, the whole shipbuilding and commercial interests of the country would be certain to take it up.
§ Petition ordered to lie on the table.